Half Marathon Week 7 - 18K...Must Have Been the Cupcakes

Yip yip yipppeeee!  18K done and out of the way.  Hubs has started back at ice hockey on Friday nights, so we slept in a bit again and headed out to our usual trail at around 9:30.  Weather was perfect...a little overcast, cool and no wind.  I wanted to slow my pace down a bit and run around 30 - 45 seconds slower than my goal race pace for the half. 

Normally when I do anything shorter than 15K, I tend to not pack water with me...but today I did the full meal deal and packed my fuel belt and a Gu gel for the road.  It was actually nice to run a slower pace and I felt great throughout the whole run.  Fantastic even.  I was trying to think of what the difference was today - and I think I've narrowed it down.  Fabulous Boss bought us cupcakes as a treat yesterday and I indulged...sugary icing and all!  That puppy slid down my throat like nobody's business.  It's all about the carbo-loading, I say.

Overall stats for this run, 1:51:08, average 6:17/km pace.  I was feeling so awesome that I decided to bust it out at 16K and pull some faster splits and managed to pump out a 4:58 and 5:23!  Hubs was also feeling pretty good as this was the longest he's run since his broken bum problem...he had a tiny bit of pain in his piriformis, but pretty good overall.  My foot was a little tender, but feels good right now.  After our run, we stopped by a local bakery that's not too far from our place called Royal Bay Bakery.  They use all organic flour there, and the stuff is to die for...the best sausage rolls and pastries I've ever had, actually...and I'm quite the sausage roll afficianado!   Stopping by this place has become a bit of an after run ritual...nothing like replenishing protein and carbs after a tough run, right?