Stretching it

I was able to enjoy? a good run/walk in the park this morning. 58:40 was the time and the distance was 5.16 miles. (11:31 minute/miles) I jogged the first mile at a 10:20 pace and then tried to slow it down as I was working pretty hard to get oxygenated. There really is a good reason to do warm-ups and I hadn’t. At the turnaround I had a time of 30 minutes exactly. (11.62 minute/mile) On the way back, I ran for 1.5 miles and walked the first of the return miles, giving me 11:00 minute miles for that leg.

Now I have to come up with a plan for the Phoenix Half Marathon; racewalk or run/walk? I’m leaning towards doing it via the racewalking method, but with 20,000 entrants, just making my way through the pedestrian traffic with decent form will be tough. That was a problem at the Portland marathon this year and I ended up running on the sidewalks just to get around the slowpokes. Or I could simply do whatever comes naturally and enjoy the whole experience.

I’ve done a lot of short distances during the past week or so and now I need to make sure I get in some good sub-1/2 marathon practices; distances like 10 or 11 miles will be sufficient for most training days. Or twice around the park and that’s 12 ¾ miles; and it’s also a distance I’m comfortable with.