Challenge completed!
I was flying to Toronto Thursday afternoon for Jim’s celebration of life so I thought Thursday morning would be a good time to make an attempt. The forecast was great.
I woke up on Thursday morning with stomach issues. I decided I’d drive to Shouldice Park and see how I felt after a warm-up.
I parked at Shouldice and did a warm-up to Edworthy. I wasn’t feeling great. My legs were sluggish, but my stomach felt fine enough. I decided to give it a go.
I didn’t feel too bad once I got going. My first two k’s were in 3:57 and 4:02 and by the turnaround at Shouldice (2.6k), I was just about right on pace. That was good news because going out was slightly uphill and slightly into the wind.
Coming back I ran kilomteres 3 and 4 in 3:55 and 3:53. With 1k left I knew I had it. My last k was in 3:58.
Overall I was very pleased with my result. I didn’t have to “See God” to run sub 20, and I was able to do it even though my body wasn’t functioning quite right.
Anyway, I’m looking forward to next year’s attempt!
Training for the week ending September 18:
- Monday – 8k easy
- Tuesday – 2k, 2k, 1k on the treadmill (just a bit faster than race pace), 9k total
- Wednesday – 7k easy
- Thursday – 5k time trial in 19:48, about 9.5k total
- Friday – nothing, in Toronto and Goderich
- Saturday – nothing, in Toronto
- Sunday – nothing
Total distance – about 34k.
Jason Reed 