Yesterday, when walking with the Buckeye Striders, I again ended up out front with the faster people. I was a little worried about keeping up with Catherine this week because I just have not been walking enough. (Rain.)

The pace picked up as we walked, which is usual. Imagine my surprise, though, when Catherine reported that according to her GPS we were walking at an 11:58 per mile pace! I’ve done that on a treadmill before, but never outside.

I was breathing hard (though I could still talk) and my legs were moving as fast as they could go. I kept it up as long as I could, but when Catherine said she was going to go faster, I told her to go ahead without me. I know I did not keep up the pace for a mile, but I’m not sure how far I went. Shortly after Catherine took off, I had to slow a little.

From my estimate, when Catherine went on ahead we were 2 miles from the end. When I finished, I was just 2 minutes behind her! We walked 4.3 to 4.4 miles and I finished in under 59 minutes. That averages to somewhere around 13:20 to 13:35 per mile!

I wonder if I’m picking up speed because I’m not working on distance. I don’t have any races scheduled right now, so my training walks have all been shorter.

Now matter what the reason, I’m happy with the result!

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