Running tempo (Rail Trail) 1:09:32 [4] 12.56 km (5:32 / km)
Another milestone - my first run with an iPod! I didn't want to run with it on a road, and I didn't want to miss hearing the birds and bears in the forest, so I ran on the rail trail from Duffy's Lane to just past Hwy 9 and back again.
This was a test for the marathon, and I was bristling with electronics - headphones, iPod and GPS. It was just a single experiment, but I think it worked. It's the first training run I've done where the average pace was better than my Boston qualifying pace, and that included some road crossings where I had to slow down or stop briefly. I don't do much running on flat surfaces like road or rail trail, so it's not a totally fair comparison, but it still felt pretty quick for me.
I thought that the purpose of the iPod would be to get me running in time to music with a fast beat. I'm told that there are web sites where you can get music with a beat that matches a particular running cadence. But for me, I think the biggest advantage was not being able to hear my breathing. Between songs, I'd hear myself puffing away, and my body instinctively reacted to that sound by feeling tired. When the music was playing, it mostly just mattered that I liked the song - the beat didn't have to match my cadence.
Song that achieved the highest running speed:
"Old Time Rock and Roll"
Song that made me laugh - and will make me laugh in the marathon too.
"I Want to Ride My Bicycle" by Queen