I decided to try a completely new route, and ran from home through Girton, along the bridlepath to the busway, along the busway to CRC and from there home. I only had to add a little wiggle along Windsor Road near home to make the distance.
This was another slow walk/run - my new training pace is 9:31 min/km and despite consciously trying to run slowly and walk steadily, I averaged just under 9 min/km. Looking at the splits, every single km was under 09:31 min except the last one, and that one included waiting for the lights to change on Histon Road.
The Cambridge Boundary Run is 7 weeks away. I realised this on Monday and also that my training plan was out of sync with the actual race date, so had to rewrite it a bit. I have the worst jump in distance next week, and then it's more sensibly-incremented short-long-short-long-short-RACE. I think next weekend I'll add the extra distance by going all the way to Oakington - any suggestion as to whether that's best done going up-and-down the busway, or by running on from Girton to Oakington?
Hanging alongside the busway at Histon was a huge poster for the "
Flaming June Half-Marathon" which starts and ends in Histon. I will probably register for it in a month or two (there are other things queuing up for my spending money which I care about more). It's 4 weeks after the Neolithic, which ought to be enough recovery time if I do a Neolithic half-marathon. I've given up on the Cheltenham Challenge for this year - if I stick to my training plan with no setbacks, I will only just be ready for a marathon distance by the event date, and it's a hilly course whereas my training is basically flat. I think it's more realistic to keep working on my stamina and look for a marathon event in Aug-Oct time.