My Weekly Marathon

Most days, running with a group can be fantastic. But every now and then it can backfire. How can it backfire? Well, simply by the various running skills of the runners in the group. You see, we all want to run together, but when you have someone fast pushing for a 5.00 pace running alongside someone slow wanting a 7.00 pace, it can get tricky. The 5.00 pace runner is subconsciously going just that little bit faster, while the slower runner is puffing along trying to keep up and not pass out from exertion.

Then also, you get the runners who train every Saturday as if it were a race day. With all the fancy watches they time each second, striving for a record-setting pace with every passing kilometre. 5.50 pace? Ha! I did that last week. This week I want nothing less than a 5.45 pace.

Okay, okay. I might sometimes be guilty of that. It is always exciting to see that fancy little watch tick down to a super fast pace, because then I can pretend to be one of those fast runners. Plus, hunger often strikes around the 15k, so the sooner I get back, the sooner I can eat!

But more often I'm the person who is puffing along trying to keep up with those cruising pace-setters and flailing behind as everyone else motors ahead.

Today in our long slow run we started off at a steady 6.30 pace. Beautiful! Then somehow those faster runners got in front and picked it up. But today, fortunately, I had another gal in my group who was happy to hang back with me. What a beautiful thing it is. We ran the first 13k at a faster pace with the group, then dropped it back. The less exertion we spent on running, the more breath we had to talk! It certainly makes those kilometres feel a lot more engaging and a lot less long.

Besides, considering my Big Race is in two weeks, no sense pushing it too hard on the long slow run today! I am getting pretty excited.

Total distance: 19.47km

Total time: 2.01.50min (not including water stops)

Total elevation: 215m

Avg pace: 6.10min/km

Just as an addendum, an error in resetting my watch after my training runs on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday turned into an interesting mistake, as I have the entire distance etc. summarized. So, across these three training runs (intervals Tuesday, hills Thursday, and easy run Friday) I had the following times:

Total distance: 25.21km

Total time: 2.42.10min

Total elevation: 485m

Avg pace: 6.21min/km

I find it interesting how closely these two figures match - three days of training vs one long slow run. And hey, I run about the equivalent to a marathon (42km) every week! Guess this gives me 42 extra excuses to eat more chocolate. Yum!