I decided to try a little experiment this evening. Was my cheerful, bouncy performance on the last run because I’m getting better, or because of the different route I took?
So, I went back to the old route, along the towpath. I also took my venerable Garmin eTrex along with me again.
And I’m pleased to report that it wasn’t the route on Saturday that made me feel like I could go faster and carry on quite cheerfully all the way to the end!
This evening I bounced through the towpath run with similar alacrity, and set a new personal best, I think (although I’ve not measured all my runs, I’d be surprised if the one 25-minute run I didn’t measure was a good one.)
On this route (via Gmaps pedometer) I got a little further along the towpath than ever before, and the eTrex confirms my overall speed as 5.1mph, which is a shade higher than any previous average speed I’ve managed, breaking 5mph for the first time.
I guess the 8mph max speed was done on a downhill stretch, possibly the ramp down from the flyover at the beginning 
The Garmin (more accurate than the Gmaps pedometer, I guess, as it knows exactly where I ran) says the overall distance was 2.15 miles, or 3.46 kilometers. So, rounding up, I can run 3.5km in 25 minutes, which seems pretty good to me. A bit of arithmetic tells me I’d be able to run 5K in 35 minutes, keeping up that pace.
Anyway. I also felt pretty damn fine after the running (especially after the shower!) So, I reckon I’ve broken through the first plateau, and got to the point where I’m starting to enjoy the running itself, as well as the “having finished running” — previously my favourite part by far
