18.7 miles moderate

I had been planning another attempt at my Newton Mearns route and felt fit enough to give it a try on Sunday afternoon, aiming for a pace of 7:30/mile or better. The first two or three miles went OK although there turned out to be a diversion at the top of Salkeld Street which added an extra couple of hundred metres and made it difficult to judge my performance against the times I had memorised for reaching particular landmarks. I was prepared to cut the run short if necessary but around Shawlands Arcade I had warmed up sufficiently to decide that I could probably manage the whole thing. I got held up several times at traffic lights earlier on, but was maintaining an average pace inside 7:15 until the long climb up to Mearns Cross. The average had dropped to 7:18 by the time I got there, which was still not too bad, and I expected to gain some time on the way back, at least until I got to Thornliebank. On 11 miles I felt quite energetic and thought I might even manage the whole route without stopping for a drink. From then on I concentrated on running negative splits for the second half of the route. Got back home in 2:15:01 which gave me a 7:13/mile average for the 18.73 miles. This was a great improvement on the previous Sunday, so it looks even more like the heavier shoes don't suit me at all. Weekly total: 57 miles.