Today was a beautiful day for a walk. Yesterday morning it rained non-stop. I heard it from bed and was so glad Saturday is my rest day. I also got to sleep in yesterday because my wife got up and took care of the little one (normally I try to let my wife sleep in on Saturday because she gets up every other day of the week to get the kid ready for school or because I'm on my long Sunday walk).
Today's weather was cool for this time of year (70's) and sunny. There was a big, beautiful, yellow moon setting over the lake and the downtown skyline when I started walking (at 5:30!) and the lake was full from yesterday's rain. I saw a raccoon, some turtles and lots of birds.
The walk was kind of tough. I went out too fast and was getting pretty sore by the end of my second loop (three "short" loops equals about 27.3 miles) but I really wanted to get in three loops so I kept going. My times on the last loop were slower but acceptable to me so I feel pretty good about the results.
I can say that I'm getting a little burned out on the Ultra training. It takes so much time, and it prevents me from racing because I have to stay on track with my long distance training. I also don't do much speedwork and don't have much variety in my training because I'm just focusing on quality miles. I think I've decided to switch back to half and full marathons (for a while, maybe forever) after the Ultracentric race at the end of November. There are a lot of races I'd like to do but can't because of the two pending ultras.
After November I'll probably do the New Year's Day 5 mile run again, then the Lake Benbrook Half Marathon again, then the Mardi Gras Marathon in New Orleans. Last year I won the men's half marathon racewalk division; I'd really like to try to win the full marathon this year. We'll see how I feel after November 28th!
Distance: 27.2 miles
Time: 5:21:14
Pace: 11:48
