Running in Curacao - 7.66 km

We ran into town and did some shopping today. Well, sort of. We had just enough money for a beer, so we basically scouted out some stuff that we planned to purchase tomorrow when we'd ride into town on bicycles: some paddock boots for me, and some knee-length hi-top runners for Jenny. 7.66 kilometres, 5:43 average pace.

Running in Curacao - 8 km

Today was another 8 kilometre run into town and back. We went across the river on the ferry and I had a beer (Jenny had a Coke) and we ran back. It was hot -- no rain today (unusual this week) -- but our average pace was Jenny's Marathon pace of 5:43/k.

Running in Curacao - 8.8 km

Just a short run into town and back -- 8.8 kilometres total. We've started a very pleasant tradition of running into town, I have a beer (ideally something I've never had before and at a place I've never been before) and we run back. Today I had a "Bright" beer. We kept it to less than 6 minutes per kilometre, so the pace wasn't brutal, but certainly we weren't slogging it either. But speaking of "slogging it", we got caught in one of the frequent rain showers and got more soaked than usual on the run into town.

Running in Curacao - 14 km

Jenny and I did a run into Willemstad today. It was a 4 km run into town, and then we ran around the "Punda" part of town for a bit. Then we went over to the "Otrobanda" side using the free ferry boat ride (the floating bridge was "open" for repairs) and I had a Polar beer (imported from Venezuela) on that side and we ran back home. 14.36 kilometres total.

Running in Curacao - 4 km

Landed in Curacao earlier today. Quite hot (forecast was for 31 degrees) but I needed to work off my lunch and go for a run. So I ventured down Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd. from the Breezes resort towards the main city on the island, Willemstad. I just did 2 km and then turned back (total of 4 km running), but it gave me a bit of an idea of what the weather would be like and how it would affect my running for the rest of the week. 5:13/k average pace.

Marathon Day!

It was a perfect day for a run. Forecast of 12 degrees C. for the high. Sunny. A bit of a breeze from the south. I didn't have a particularly good sleep last night, but it didn't seem to affect my running performance.

We were targeting 5:27 per kilometre to get us in at 3 hours 50 minutes. While we were able to keep that pace for better than half of the run, by the end we were just trying to get it done. Lots of run-walk-run-walk to get through it. But we did!

Here are the splits:
5:27
5:20
5:24
5:19
5:18
5:24
5:27
5:22
5:24
5:21
5:31 (gel at water stop)
5:27
5:28
5:27
5:37
5:28
5:31
5:29
5:27
5:32
5:27
5:22
5:28
5:10 (downhill on Red Hill Valley Parkway)
5:17
5:19
5:35
6:11 (still on track overall after 28 kilometres)
7:41
6:57
6:46
6:37
5:32
6:56
6:25
7:21
5:53
6:34
7:17
6:30
6:38
6:02
5:41 pace (200 m.)

4:08:21 for an average pace of 5:51 per kilometre -- good enough for a personal best for Gayle by over 5 minutes! It was a grueling run for her, but she toughed it out, and ran the last 2 kilometres without a walk break.

Attagirl! :-)

4 mile taper easy run

Jed and Brian came over for the run tonight. We started a bit late, so we were running in the dark for part of the run. The goal for this one was just to get in some easy miles, so there was no particular pace in mind -- although we didn't want to go any faster than marathon pace (4:51/k). Here are my splits:

4:56
5:01
4:59
5:11
5:01
5:00
5:42 pace (600 m.)

I felt good. No aches or pains to speak of. A good run 4 days before the marathon.