To make it easier on myself, I ran a different route -- one without hills. My usual loop has vertical gain and loss of about 500 feet over 5 miles. That can be really hard on the legs and body. So, I chose a flat trail near my house, one I ran often over course of marathon training. And I decided on about 7 miles, with goal pace of 10:00 or so. Not hard, just cruising for me. I had been mentally planning -- visulaizing -- this run for several days, including the turnaround point.
Saturday started with a warm snow shower, temperature in mid 30s. Snow didn't stick, but made for a wet trail, and also kept everyone else inside. Perfect. As I geared up to go, my iPod was dead, so just me and my thoughts
I felt great the first several miles. I kept looking at my Garmin and telling myself to sloooow down. This was a long slow run, not a tempo run or race. I successfully dialed it back (some), but just let my pace find a groove.
And then I noticed that my turnaround point was further than I thought. It was about one mile further, actually, so a 7 mile run would become a 9 mile run if I didn't turn around before my goal. Given I had visualized the run, the turn around, the mental milestone I wanted to achieve, and most importantly, how I felt, I decided to push it to 9 miles. It actually felt good. At the turn around point, a teenager looked at me and said "Are you training for a marathon?" I said no, why? And he said "because you look like a serious runner." I chuckled and took that in stride.
I ended up going 9.03 miles, at an average pace of 9:19. Felt awesome. Of course not like the old days, but I still get a huge kick out of being able to just do it. And all day Sunday, I was so sore all over, back, ankles, ribs, you name it. But it felt great.
Pace:
Time
|
LapTime
|
Distance
| ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summary | 1:24:34.8 | 1:23:50.0 | 9.05 | 181 | ||||||||
| 1 | 8:57.5 | 8:57 | 1.00 | |||||||||
| 2 | 9:15.2 | 9:15 | 1.00 | |||||||||
| 3 | 9:45.0 | 9:40 | 1.00 | |||||||||
| 4 | 9:18.5 | 9:19 | 1.00 | |||||||||
| 5 | 4:40.6 | 4:40 | 0.51 | |||||||||
| 6 | 9:19.2 | 9:17 | 1.00 | |||||||||
| 7 | 9:01.6 | 9:02 | 1.00 | |||||||||
| 8 | 9:16.0 | 9:15 | 1.00 | |||||||||
| 9 | 9:13.5 | 9:15 | 1.00 | |||||||||
| 10 | 4:52.9 | 4:46 | 0.51 | |||||||||
| 11 | :54.8 | :24 | 0.02 |
That is awesome! Congrats on a great long run!
ReplyDeleteLove the longs too - outside, that is. It is so hard to grind them out on the treadmill - no matter what is on TV. Great pacing!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful!! I love runs like that.
ReplyDeleteNice job going longer! Don't you love it when people's comments give you a boost? : )
ReplyDeleteWow longer and faster! Nicely done. Sounds pretty serious to me as well!
ReplyDeletefrom what you set out to do versus what you did do - that's awesome! and once a marathoner - always a marathoner. Great job!
ReplyDeleteWelcome back - I know it felt great being outside beating the streets again.
ReplyDeleteIt is nice just to be out there, no matter the pace, isn't it?!?
ReplyDeleteGood long run. Letting one's pace find a groove is great advice for all runners.
ReplyDelete