I ran 41 km this week, a few less than last week but that’s because I went snowshoeing on Sunday. The focus of this week’s Running Room clinic was pacing and apparel.

We did a 5km time trial on Tuesday to help figure out our marathon pace. I ran it in 19:59, which means my long run pace should be between 4:41 and 5:29, my tempo pace is 4:15, and my 1600 meter time should be 6:30. If I want to run a 3 1/2 hour marathon, I need to run an average pace of 4:59 for 42.2 km.

So far I’m having no problem maintaining a good pace over my long runs. On Saturday I was only planning on running 10 km, but I felt good so I ran a for 15 km and then added 30 minutes of biking to the farmer’s market. I bathed afterwards, so that’s probably the closest I’ll get to a triathlon.

On Tuesday, our clinic instructor spent a few minutes talking about good running attire. He didn’t have to say much because everyone was decked out in fancy Running Room gear. Everyone except for me. I’ve been running in ghetto gear – old sneakers from my first half marathon in 2007, IRS pub crawl shorts from 2006, baggy hoodies, and my cellphone clutched in my hand to measure my speed. When it’s cold out, I’ve been running in red sweat pants or just wearing long underwear under my shorts. I don’t want to buy a lot of fancy running clothing, but I might have to break down and buy a pair of tights so I have something warmer to wear when it rains.

I did buy a new pair of sneakers after my run on Saturday. I knew the old runners were garbage. I know have a pair of Mizuno Wave Precision 13’s. They’re shiny and fast and make my knees feel a lot better.

Two week downs, 15 more to go.