Two Loops, Four Shoes

There were very few runners for this morning's Safra run. The usual hardcore regulars were there and we started off on our planned 15km route (1.5x MF 10km loop). Linda dear girl managed to wake herself up at 530am and dragged her sleepy feet to the clubhouse in time! Impressive feat, given that our shared concept of time is like blu-tack -- elastic. It is a waste of her talents that she does not like running. She is fast. 55min for MF loop, in heavy trail shoes, untrained. I do think she is capable of a 4h +/- marathon timing if she chooses to do one. Sub-4h even, if she trains for it.

I went out fast initially, above my normal pace for a 20km attempt. I cut 3min off my normal timing on the first 5km, which should have triggered alarm bells that I was going too fast. I ran with Jason for that 1st loop, with me panting and him coughing along the way. Unfortunately, it was too late by the time I decided to slow down my pace and the 10km loop felt extremely tiring. Even as I tried to stroll a little to regain my breath, my rhythm was totally lost. When we reached clubhouse after the 1st loop, Jimmy, Wong, and Julie were having a break at the entrance. Jason was not feeling well and decided to stop. I continued on the 2nd loop alone. I was glad Jason did not come along, he would have been utterly irritated. That loop was a lost cause from the word go. It was a great struggle, with multiple stop-strolls in between jogs. I lost count of how many times I did that, and how many runners bypassed me. Why was it mentally so hard to continue running and not stop? It was only 20km. :( The total time for run was way longer than my usual, nevermind that the 1st lap was faster.

I still need lots of practice and training to find a new balance between power (which I'm trying to build) and sustainable pace (which I had but slow) so as to create a more effective rhythm. Retail therapy beckoned during sulky moments like this. I indulged and bought 4 pretty pairs of shoes for my 1 not-so-pretty pair of feet. :)