It is really nice having a friend who is training for the same long-distance event. I needed to do 10 miles to train for the New Albany Walking Classic Half Marathon, and because of a local race this morning, I thought I’d have to walk alone. I’ve done long distance alone before, and I know I can do it, it just isn’t as fun.

But last night Deb was able to change her schedule to walk with me starting at 7:30.

We met at Sharon Woods, one of our favorite parks. The trail is a 3.8 mile loop, which makes it very easy to keep track of distance. One cool thing is, they have installed new mile markers! It makes it easier for me to track splits.

We had a great time enjoying the beautiful morning and chatting. I was so glad she was with me. I’ve been feeling a little “draggy” this week from not getting enough miles in, and Deb helped me walk at a consistent pace.

I didn’t realize that the mile markers were there right away, and we had that 0.2 mile to make up every lap, but here are our stats:
Total: 2:31 for 10 miles (That included using the last 0.2 as a cool down.)
First 2 miles in 30 min flat
Other miles in 14:52, 15:10, 14:46. The speed doesn’t bother me because we were doing our long-slow day.

The other numbers just don’t make sense. The 0.2 messed me up.

Regardless, we had great weather, the morning was beautiful, and the 10 miles was so much easier having Deb distract me.
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Note: I’m still trying to figure out which shoes to wear for long distance. The NB 903s are nice, but almost too light. The new Brooks I bought feel too heavy. I like the support, but there is no foot rolling going on. My feet almost slap the ground. Today I wore the pair of Brooks I bought for Big Sur, and they were OK, I’m not sure they will be right. Anyway, it is a good idea to try out shoes on long distances to be sure they will work for you.

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