Cautiously optimistic about that marathon

Before I fall into a hot bath, I wanted to get this down:

Today, I ran the longest I’ve ever run in my life. I wouldn’t have attempted it without my running buddy (Leslie) and her boyfriend (Robson) but I’m glad I did. We ran 17km — that’s a slightly more than 10.5 miles — and we did it in 1h 53m 17s (Leslie’s stopwatch said 1h 53m 14s, but I’m going with mine for consistency).

We also ran it through the melting sluck of Brandon’s streets today. It was like running through sand mixed with mud mixed with snow. Oh wait, that’s pretty much exactly what it was.

It made me realize that we actually should have no trouble running the planned half-marathon at the end of May, and I’m thinking that if we’re diligent, a sub-two-hour half-marathon might be in our grasp.

And, with well over a year to go before I want to run the Manitoba Marathon (June, 2010) I think I’m in pretty good shape.

Other realizations:

• Brandon may tout its own horn a lot on those walking/cycling/recreation paths, but they really are pretty great — where they exist. So far, the implementation is still haphazard. And there are too many significant streets where there’s not even a sidewalk, let alone a recreation path.
• Bridges need something for pedestrians, too. I realize that bridges are more expensive than regular roads, but a thin strip of concrete — narrower than a regular sidewalk — just doesn’t cut it when you push snow there all winter long. Glad to see that the long-promised new 18th Street bridge will have more pedestrian amenities.
• If you’re going to have a sidewalk, it’s even better to have a boulevard of grass between the people and the cars. Not only is it a nice barrier for safety, but it provides an important “splash zone” when there are puddles and slush on the roads.
• About those boulevards — did you know that if you plant trees there, cars will slow down?