Tuesday, October 4, 2011

One Mile Short of Half Mara

After a long day at school and a nice big dinner, I rode my bike home and relaxed for about 2 hours waiting for my wife to come home. I new I had to go for a longer run so I set out at around 10pm. After deciding to head for the mountains, I picked a nice slow pace that I could carry for an hour+. My average pace was 5:03/km.
Wenxin Road was crowded as always and I couldn't wait to get out of the city. Wenxin Road turns into Dongshan Road and crosses the Caohu River six times. It was a beautiful evening and I left my mind go a I held the pace and enjoyed the scenery. 2.5 miles in is when the scenery changes, the cars disappear, and slowly but surely, you are surrounded by mountains. The elevation climb is pretty steep in some areas but I was feeling great so I pushed on. Both sides of the street leading up to Daken Mountain are full of think green trees and the occasional rice field. Wild dogs only looked up when they heard my foot steps but would immediately rest their heads again as I passed. The river didn't smell like feces (like it does in the city) and the sky was really clear, the moonlight giving me more than what I need to see. I turned around at 5.08 miles and headed back down. My pace quickened for the first few km but going downhill is still pretty hard on my knees so I slowed it down.
After reaching the city again, my legs felt like they weighed 40lbs each. Going down and back up the stairs that go under the train tracks was a killer. I took a detour to add a little extra distance to my night's run and ended up with...

19.69km in 1:39:26. With my half marathon three months away, I'm pretty sure i'll be able to hit my goal of a sub-1:40 half. Perhaps i'll even set my goal to sub-1:30....

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