Because I do a lot of half marathons, I always get a thrill when I reach the 10-mile training days!

There are several reasons:

• Not just anyone can walk 10 miles.
• It takes training and dedication to work my way up to 10.
• It is one of the first true measures of how I will do in the half marathon. If I do well with 10, I know I’m on track. If I don’t do well? I need to do something quick to make a change.

Today’s 10 started a tiny bit too fast because I was with three other walkers. Laura and Catherine went ahead pretty early on. Nancy decided to make it a slow day for her and stayed at my pace. We did slow down a little after a couple of miles, but I didn’t realize until about mile 7 that we probably slowed too much. But for long slow days, that is OK.

We were heading north on the bike trail between the Park of Roses and Antrim Park. Nancy and I decided to do a couple of laps around Antrim then head back to the Park of Roses. I think this is where Laura and Catherine went past us without our seeing them.

We turned back, realized we had not walked a full 10 miles, went south a little more than half a mile, then went back to the start.

10.38 miles in 2:30 — a 14:30 pace average (what I was hoping for), but I think we were slower overall. We sprinted for the last quarter mile, and I think that made our overall average more respectable.

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