I completed just two runs again this week, the Plymouth Musketeers group run on Thursday evening (Central Park route with the 9 minute/mile group covering a whopping 6.6 miles in total) and a second longer run on Saturday afternoon after returning from work at an Applicant Day.
The Saturday run was a 10 mile up and back run along the Plym Valley trail. I set off thinking I would do a mile or two at a slow pace and then try to do 10 miles at 8 minute 30 second pace but quickly decided that I would do 10 miles in total and, having done a slow first mile (9:17 pace), try to get my average pace for the run down to 8:30. As the route took me higher I rapidly found myself running in low cloud which added a nice ethereal quality to the run. I turned around just before the Leighbeer tunnel. It was a good run and I easily managed to get my average pace down to the target level. It was not as quick as I hope to go in the upcoming Plymouth Half Marathon (my first run at that distance) but it was a good average pace on a route that is definitely uphill to the turn.
Tim O'Hare 