9.5 miles hard

The club training session was a 9-mile run, but the fast pack consisted of just me and Mark. The route took us along Canniesburn Road and onto the canal at Blairdardie. After about 3 miles, as we headed back towards Maryhill, I dropped off the pace and thought about taking a shortcut at Dawsholm Road, but by the time I got to the bridge I wasn't struggling so much. Approaching the Kelvin Walkway, my average pace had dropped to about 6:33/mile, but I didn't think it would fall much further. By this point I knew the route was going to be on the long side, and we had already been late in setting out, but after some quick calculations I pressed on, down the Walkway and over the bridge and up the steps to the Botanic Gardens. Heading back along Great Western Road, I suddenly felt quite fit as I reached the crest of the first hill. I completed the route at a slightly faster pace, even taking into account the hill up to the top gate, and finished in 1:01:40 for a 6:30/mile average over the 9.49 miles.