Saturday - Manly to Spit & return

This now seems to be my typical Saturday morning. I thought if I felt good today I could aim for a sub-90 (minutes). Went out at my usual comfortable, but firm, pace. Felt average - nothing marvellous, as so often is the case following a rest day. I felt a bit more out of breath on the inclines. It didn't help when I was told off by a group of four women walking two abreast on a single file trail (you can only yell out "excuse me" so many times before it becomes a lost cause - to make matters worse, I ran past them on the way back - and yes, they were still walking two abreast. Some people just never learn. On the positive, at least they were out there exercising, so I'm happy with that). It's funny, my least favourite part of the run is the 1km of road section at Clontarf - I never thought I'd say that being a road runner. I think it just messes up my rhythm having spend the past few kilometers showing off my technical prowess (or lack thereof) on the trails. The other tough bit is getting back to Forty Baskets, again when you are just getting back on the road after dominating the trails. I think it's the consistency of the road that makes it difficult following so much variety in stepping and strides on the trails. I always try to increase the pace from this point, but always keeping it under control. Anyway, my goal of sub-90 became a sub-89, finishing in 88:59. This week it measured 20.20km, so 4:24's on the GPS. At least the time might explain why it felt quite tough out there today (similar to last week, but harder than two weeks ago). Another stunning day out there - wore my t-shirt which now has blood over my left nipple. Not looking forward to having a shower now!