Alignment

Off to do battle in the official 'squad' race around Queen's Park. I seem to have a bit of a mental block here, consistently underperforming here.

Arrived a bit before 7 to see the Centennial Park side shrouded in mist as the rising sun burnt off the dew - made visibility into the sun practically non-existant.

Got through one of the worst warm ups I've had in some time - stiff and junky, and feeling limited in range of motion. Just managed to scrape under 5:30 per km pace in the last half of the second 2km lap.

Took the shoes off, did strides, and we lined up.

First lap was 7:01, then 7:13 for the second, and the final was 7:20. Wheels fell off about halfway around the second lap. Still, the time was 21:35 for the 6km, a 36 second improvement on previous efforts here. Distance is around 2km, so pace would have 3:36 per km, which is a bit more like what I'm capable of. Funny, I really do seem to be faster in bare feet.

Mohammed ran an equal PB for 21:21.

Next stop at this venue is sub 21, but that might be a little way away yet. Next time I'm here I'll do the old trick of taking the first lap at the average of the previous session, say 7:12, and seeing how it goes from there.