Comparing splits

Trying to be smart about getting my runs in this week, I decided to do my long run after work today, a 21.1K (I throw the extra .1 for the half marathoner in me) jaunt through the city's east end, to the Beaches and back. It'll be a busy weekend and I'm not sure i'll get good time to do long runs.

I did the same distance on Saturday, so I decided to compare the two runs (haven't done this in awhile).

Saturday: This run was not done with the ideal planning. I had been out drinking until 2:30 a.m. and didn't get to bed until after 3. I drank as much water before bed to counter the 4 or 5 pints I drank, and got in more water when I got up. I also didn't get a good brekkie in me but in my favour, when I went out at 10:30 a.m., conditions were cool.

Here are the splits:



Today, the temperature was supposed to hit 30, but by the water it was cooler, probably as low as 23. Rushing out to run, I didn't bring water with me, and instead hydrated on about 200 ml of water. Also, the last thing I ate was a banana about three hours before the run. My focus was to get the run in and put in a decent effort.

The splits

Today's time was a few minutes after and I felt good -- even though I was tired -- the entire way. I settled quickly into a comfortable 5:10 or faster pace after about 4K. Part of the marathon training this year will be to do longer runs at harder efforts, even much more than this. I'm not looking forward to this, but it will be a challenge.

In all, this doesn't really tell me much -- my half marathon racing times have been between 1:34 and 1:36. But I do definately feel like the fitness is coming back.