I needed 10 miles this weekend. Because it was raining yesterday, and I really could not see doing 10 miles inside on a track, I opted to walk today. Though chilly and damp out, at least it wasn’t actively raining.

It was pretty chilly when I arrived at Sharon Woods, but I am working on trying to not overdress, so I just sucked it up with long pants, one wicking shirt and my great asics jacket. I really wanted gloves, but I didn’t bring any.

The first 2 miles were really rough! Why is it that the first 2 miles of every long distance training walk are so hard? Immediately after I hit the 2-mile mark, I felt great and was thrilled to be there. (My hands had started to warm up by then, too, so that might have helped.)

Because we walked 10 miles at race pace last weekend, I tried to walk slower than a 15-min mile today. Unfortunately, that was not difficult. I could not have gone much faster if I had tried. In fact, after 9 miles I felt pretty tired and ended up doing the last half mile at a recovery pace.

So, I walked the entire 10 in 2:36. I’m still figuring out how to work my new HR monitor, so even though I hit the lap button on the chronograph, it actually did splits. I’m not in the mood to do the math to figure out how long it took per mile. Let’s just say I averaged over 15 min per mile.

So I maintained my goal pace and finished the entire 10 miles. I’m sure finishing this training walking will help me to finish Tucson feeling great.
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Wore my new asics shoes. Though I bought insoles, I really had not intended to use them with these shoes. The asics have more stability than the New Balance. After a couple of miles, I could feel my right foot being slightly unstable. Hmmm. Maybe I should have left the insoles in? On top of that, the blister on my left foot that formed last week got even bigger this week. I HATE blisters! Looks like the insoles go back in tomorrow.

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