18 miles moderate

With a couple of weeks until the next race of any consequence, I tried the 18-mile route to Newton Mearns and back which I haven't run since January. It actually measures at 18.15. This time I took a small hand-held bottle of PSP22 to give that another try as well. For the first few miles I didn't feel very energetic and thought of cutting the route short, but I reached the 4-mile point at Shawlands Cross in about 28:40 and was soon committed to doing the whole thing. Felt fine during the long climb from Eastwood Toll up to the highest point of the route at Mearns Cross, and got to the 9-mile mark just inside 1:06 which was well on schedule. I picked it up a bit to take advantage of the downhill section, and also to try to compensate in advance for possibly slowing down later on. When I reached Shawlands Cross again I got caught in a downpour for a few minutes but I was still looking at negative splits and a huge PB for the route. The final mile was probably the hardest but I arrived back home in 2:11:11 - definitely slightly faster on the way back in as the 9-mile point isn't quite halfway. Average mile pace was 7:13.