Monday, February 13, 2012

First Long Run in Long Time

After reading around on blog world. I decided that I had been treadmilling enough, and decided to go for a long run on Saturday.  I always loved long runs when I was training for a marathon; in fact they were my favorite parts of training.  But, given my current state of fitness, I thought I simply wasn't ready for one. I just decided, well, I will go out and give it a try, and if I have to go slow, that is OK.  If I have to take a walk break, that's OK too.  Just be warm, hydrated and accept what I get from nature and my run.

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
1:24:34.81:23:50.09.05




181

18:57.5 8:57 1.00







29:15.2 9:15 1.00







39:45.0 9:40 1.00







49:18.5 9:19 1.00







54:40.6 4:40 0.51







69:19.2 9:17 1.00







79:01.6 9:02 1.00







89:16.0 9:15 1.00







99:13.5 9:15 1.00







104:52.9 4:46 0.51







11:54.8 :24 0.02

9 comments:

  1. That is awesome! Congrats on a great long run!

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  2. Love 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!

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  3. Beautiful!! I love runs like that.

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  4. Nice job going longer! Don't you love it when people's comments give you a boost? : )

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  5. Wow longer and faster! Nicely done. Sounds pretty serious to me as well!

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  6. from what you set out to do versus what you did do - that's awesome! and once a marathoner - always a marathoner. Great job!

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  7. Welcome back - I know it felt great being outside beating the streets again.

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  8. It is nice just to be out there, no matter the pace, isn't it?!?

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  9. Good long run. Letting one's pace find a groove is great advice for all runners.

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