Perfect Distance

Niall had called the shots for the sunday run. We were going long and the plan was 8.30 pace, so I was up for it although I suspected the pace would be on the 7 side of 8.

Anyway we met at Paul's who was a second or two late. There was no time for him to get his watch on or say hello, as Niall was off. As usual the pace was faster than I wanted but my plan was to keep the HR in zones 2/3 for the run and so I'd keep up as best I could and then let them go if it was too much.

By the time we'd reached Wheathampstead there was a 20 yard gap but I was safely in my zone and not too concerned. Paul took us on a route I'd never been, through the churchyard and then it was on to the Wheato 10k path. The guys had decided not to let me slip too far off the back so were throwing in the odd run back to me in order to keep us together. Nice touch.
We went along the path and I tried to hold on to them on the ascents through the field. The HR went into Z5 but recovered as I slowed the pace. The lads had some fun up ahead, taking over an old guy at pace and then turning back and rejoining me. The unspoken decision was to chase down the lone runner again but he'd stepped up his pace and even though we were pushing under 7 we didn't get him. Funnily when we reached the point where he'd cut off we saw hi walking. He'd killed himself but it was still respectable. My HR was back in Z5 but as the pace eased back down I was back in 3.
Again the lads were building a lead but it wasn't growing beyond too quickly and I knew the way home. Paul threw in another little loop around Wheathampstead and took us up to the top of the hill a new way. On the ascent the guys pulled further away but again turned and ran back to me. From there we were together until Crabtree Lane where we parted.
As I was heading up the hill I saw the distance covered so far was just over 10 so decided to throw in a warm down loop of Aldwickbury Crescent and Topstreet Way in order to hit 11 miles for the treck.
The run was perfect for me. I kept the HR steady and managed to hold my form all the way through. Ignoring mile 1 and mile 11 which were warm ups/downs the average pace was 8.12 for 9 miles. That's very positive and I'd say my best long run ever.