A Great Day to get outside!

So, in the never ending quest to get into some kind of shape and better ready myself for the Burlington Chilly Half Marathon on March 4th, I decided that a long run was in order today.  Started out with an idea of where I would run but not exactly know how far it would total or if I could do it.  As it was a planned long slow run, I did 10 & 1's which would be part of my race day as well.  The plan was to shoot for a pace of between 6:15 and 6:30 per km which I know that I can carry on a conversation while running.  I also decided to wear a heart rate monitor just to see how it compared to my view of how hard I was working (I have never liked heart rate monitors, even though I own 2, as they never seem to be accurate in my opinion.  I have coasted down a hill on a bike and the monitor says 200 beats a minute, I have biked repeated hills going up as hard as I can and only been able to hit 145 - both measures far from correct).  The run was great, ended up doing 19.5km and feel very comfortable about the half marathon, not like I was attempting to win it!  My pace was pretty much on track until I decided to turn on the gas for the last 1.5km and knocking the time down to a 6:08 - next time I just stick to the plan.  Saw a couple of deer at the start and then on the way back there were three in the same spot.  Also saw the pair below on my run.  It really does make you feel better when you are out there.

Hope everyone else had a great day too!