New Website, New Run

In the process of setting up this blog, I've already discovered a couple of things that have helped. As I mentioned in the first post I mostly run at lunch. This is normally fine, but it does lead to running the same routes over and over again (The Dockyard, The Lido...). Last night I 'discovered' a new website www.mapmyrun.com. Not only does it give the ability to measure out runs, you can search for runs in your area that others have saved. We found this run right near work and decided to give it a go: 3-miler. Of course, we don't work on the route, so we had to add a bit of distance onto the front and back so it ended up at 4.75 miles.
The run was interestingly different. Despite both of us working in Portsmouth for at least a year and a half, neither of us had been in this area of the city. The route is also more 'urban' than we're used to. Our normal routes are off of the main streets and on running/cycle paths most of the way. The on-street time is almost entirely residential. This route was different.
I think we timed it perfectly for the lunch hour. The pavements/sidewalks were busy. There was a lot more lateral movement than on our other runs and I managed to successfully test my 'crash-back' maneuver when a parked car door opened immediately in front of me.
There's benefit here too I think. I mentioned in my last post that I had run my first race in a long time last week. The Portsmouth Athletic Club Promenade series 5k. I had forgotten how much running in traffic can affect how you run. I figure this was good practice for the next challenge: The Great Capital Run this Sunday. the 5k had about 150 runners. I suspect the 10k will have a few more.
I thoroughly enjoyed the 5k and have good memories of my last 10k. (Yes if you follow the link it was a long time ago.) I found I had some difficulties managing my pace. I suspect it's pretty common to get carried away with the crowd and start off at a faster pace than you can maintain. I missed all the distance markers before 3 and 4. But overall I had a good time.
My time was nothing that's going to win any awards, just over 24 minutes. Then again, even in the prime of my younger fitter days, I never was particularly fast. Fit, but not fast.
Today: 4.75 miles
This week: 4.75 miles