I did another 18-mile run this morning and was in better running form than the last time I did a distance like this.

The first 30 minutes were a little painful. Fortunately, my running legs woke up after that and I was able to achieve a pace of between 9:20 and 9:50 minute/mile for most of the 18 miles. In particular, I forced myself to run a little faster towards the end, in order to “simulate” a strong finish.

I was also careful to drink lots at every 2 miles and took an energy gel sachet at every 6 miles. This translated to an energy gel every hour.

The best news is that my ITB did not bother me after the run. I used the foam roller before the run during warm-up and immediately after. So it looks like the combo of foam roller and physiotherapy is working.

Now, I am wondering if I should do a 20 mile run next weekend. The plan is yet another 18-miler. But perhaps doing a 20-miler followed by two 18-milers would allow more time to rest before the 22-miler in April.

I found out today that I am improving my running speed.

Several months ago, running a single 400-meter lap in 2 minutes was a “go all out” effort.

This morning, I did some interval training. My “all out” lap time was 1 minute 40+ seconds. Wow!

Now, my goal is to achieve a consistent 8 min/mile for a 1/2 marathon distance. Well,  maybe I’ll need to do that for a 10K first

Part of the my training involves trying to run an 8 min/mile pace for more than a mile at a time. Technically, I guess you can call that my “tempo” pace.

It’s a beautiful out there this morning. I had planned to do some intervals.

But neither mind nor body are up to it. I feel and look my age this morning: all hunched up and aching.

I came back from Taiwan last Friday, had classes on Saturday and Monday and conference calls late every night.

I also caught a cold on Sunday, after the Happy Hour Run. So there’s also the effect of Nyquil and Claritin (allergy season is here as evidenced by the pollen on my car).

I guess I need a little break. Perhaps I’ll do a little run tomorrow. There’s an 18-miler for this Sunday on the training schedule.

That’s something to look forward to…

I ran the 10K part of this event this morning.

I was aiming for an average of 8 min/mile but ended up only with something like 8:17 min/mile. Not too far from my last 1/2 marathon pace.

It was a little disappointing.

Oh well, back to speed endurance training.

Otherwise, the run was okay. As of last night, there were less than 400 participants, but a number of people signed up on the spot this morning. So in many ways, it was a nice, cozy family event. The number of porta-potties reflected the size of the event.

We ran along the Guadalupe Park Trail. This is a pretty narrow trail, but because of the low number of participants, it was not too stressful. I had to skirt around slow people only during the first hundred yards or so.

The trouble when there are too few runners is that there is no one to overtake. I use overtaking other runners as a way to push myself to run faster.

The weather was also pretty good. The sky was clear and there was a bit of a wind. It was not too hot but there was a headwind during the last mile which did its part in sapping away my energy. I am ashamed to say that I was out of steam during the last 800 meters.

The difference with other road races was that this one served beer and burritos. And there were no bananas. You had to bring a photo ID to get a wrist band which entitled you to a plastic cup of cold beer, courtesy of Gordon Biersch. A number of people queued up for seconds (available for $3).