15 Miles, Accidentally

This was a long week of work. I didn't get a chance to run Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. I kind of had my eye on the Queens Half Marathon on Sunday, but logistics to and from were killing me. The race begins and ends on College Point in Queens, a very picturesque spot. But that is far from the subway, train or bus. And parking is a nightmare. NYRR had buses, but you to be at NYRR in the city by 5 a.m. -- which meant like a 4 a.m wake up for me. Ummm, no way that was happening. If was going, I was was going to have to drive and hope. And its on a Sunday, and I don't like to run long on Sunday -- I like to enjoy my Saturdays during college football season. Already thinking about the beer and chips during Florida/Tennessee. So, I was unsure if that was going to happen. That left me running long on Saturday, but Friday night happy hour/dinner crushed that. I am no fan of drinking and running, so I slept in. Saturday I was trying to summon the courage not to drink and just get up and run long around here Sunday morning.

Saturday, though, was beautiful here. First really Fall day. Temp in sixties, sunny and bright. A great day to run. So after errands, I decided to blow off the first half of Florida/Tennessee and go run. And what a run it was. Fast, felt great and just ZOOM. I had it in my mind I could run my normal route twice if I felt good and maybe get in 14 miles. But I hadn't planned on running, so I had no water or gel on my route. I felt great and decided not only to go twice, but three times to run the 20 I gave up on last week. Loop 1 was in can and really fast -- averaged sub 8 minutes. Stopped at the end of one loop (7 miles), got water and a gel and went out again. Another super fast loop, again sub 8 pace. I was hoping for 8:30 pace, but just felt great. And I still had remnants of alcohol in me, with terrible sleep in the middle. And I hadn't eaten right or planned on this run at all. I had to stop at 15 miles because I ran out of time and had family obligations. But what a run it was. I did miss the Florida/Tennessee game, but got to see end of USC/Washington..which was much more exciting. All in all, worked out well: a great run, ended up with no beers in the afternoon, and a make up for my blown 20 last week.

And no, I am not going to get up and run the Queens half. Enough is enough and I got my miles in!

I suppose sometimes the best runs are those we don't overplan and overthink.

Distance Time Split time Elev. chg.
1.00 0:07:35 7:35 -26
2.00 0:15:37 8:02 +28
3.00 0:23:21 7:43 -43
4.00 0:31:02 7:41 +36
5.00 0:38:34 7:31 -109
6.00 0:46:47 8:13 +14
7.00 0:54:41 7:54 +23
8.00 1:02:37 7:56 +36
9.00 1:10:48 8:11 +56
10.00 1:18:35 7:47 -29
11.00 1:26:25 7:48 +5
12.00 1:34:12 7:47 -68
13.00 1:42:25 8:13 +90
14.00 1:50:06 7:41 -127
15.00 1:58:28 8:21 +84
15.06 1:58:55 0:27 -26