Trail Running

Thursday this week introduced me to the true awesomeness of trail running on Mt Coot-tha. Unlike last week's running on grass boringness, I really loved the trails this week offered. It may be the last trail run until winter is over, as it is too dark and dangerous to run trails in winter. Boo! That's a shame. As always with Thursday, it was tough. You know it will be tough when you start by running down...and down...and down some more.
Total distance: 5.80km
Total running time: 48.08min
Total elevation: 232m
Average pace: 8.18min/km
It was a bit embarrassing when the rest of the group had to stop and wait for me. I was keeping the second last person in sight, but the leaders were concerned when they couldn't see me. I'm touched that they waited for me but sad I couldn't keep up on my own! Something to work towards - keeping up with the Galeforcers.

Here is a breakdown of the km laps (with pace, elevation)
km 1: 8.54 pace, -83m loss (+11m gain)
km 2: 7.11 pace, -47m loss (+16m gain)
km 3: 6.03 pace, -45m loss (0m gain)
km 4: 7.18 pace, +29m gain (-12m loss)
km 5: 10.46 pace, +111m gain (0m loss)
km 6 (800m): 9.53 pace, +64m gain (-12m loss)

Anyone notice the pattern of elevation difference affecting pace? As an experiment, I've tried to link my fancy pants watch data page to this blog. Check out Mt Coot-tha Trail Run Loop by loraly9 at Garmin Connect - Details. If you see this and immediately panic over my heart rate - don't.