This weekend was the Runango birthday virtual 5k, so I chose to do mine in Eastham, MA on the Cape Cod Rail Trail. I wasn't sure what to expect from myself, as I say, it's been a while and my goal was to run/walk a 15 minute mile. The trail itself is a paved rail bed for cyclists through the woods along the National Shore line on the outer side of the Cape.
The first mile was getting my bearings. I kept hoping to see the ocean, as I could smell it and knew it was nearby, only to find more trees and thickets to one side and motels and campgrounds on the other through the breaks in the trees. I ran for 3 minutes/walked for 3 minutes to see how my body would do, it held up well but it also was a bit much to maintain. Then it was run 2/walk 2 and I finished the first mile in 14:42.
The second mile was run 2/walk 2 the whole mile. Cyclist would pass with a nod and along this stretch I was passed by an deeply tanned runner wearing just his shorts, shoes and a fuel belt. As he jetted past, he yelled out, "You're doing great, keep up the good work." :) This was my fastest and most consistent mile and my split on this was 14:12.
The third mile, six weeks of lumpdom caught up with me. I was now down to run 1 minute/walk 1 minute.... damn I forgot to check the watch... I can make to the tree down there.... and other such segments. It was my slowest mile at 14:59, which is not surprising as I walked the last 5-6 minutes as a cool down.
My final time and distance was 46:20 for 3.11 miles.
It felt good to be out there. It was the first time out in my new Trance 10's, which felt great on my feet. I would have loved a beach run today, but so it goes. Maybe next time I'm down here for a weekend.
Lessons learned: I have more gas in the engine than I thought, just because Eastham is the narrowest part of the Cape doesn't mean you're on the ocean and I need to do more of this.
Happy Birthday Runango, I did your 5k and I feel the better for it.
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