Going Long


Well.....for me at least.

Yesterday was my first long run since my IMLP build up. I was a bit on the fence about how long considering Fridays 10 miler was a doozey, but I felt pretty good leaving the house so I made a promise to myself that I would end it early if needed.

As usual it takes a few miles for my legs to feel decent . This especially happens when I am doing 35-45 mile weeks.
The day was overcast and semi-cool so there was no big rush to get thru it. Things at home were a bit quiet and the girls were sleeping in so I wanted to enjoy every moment.

Headed towards Jefferson Hill Road which is a 2 mile non-stop hill climb. I always take this slow,actually its so steep you have no choice. Its a good way to control early pace for a long run.

Once I got past the hills I settled down to somewhere between Easy+ and MP.

At this point I really felt that my previous runs last week set me up well. My legs were responding well and the rhythm I had going felt relaxed. I was trying to find a zone that I could keep up for a few hours. I think I did.

I bypassed my 13 mile route to one that I thought would be close to 16 . Something inside me said that would be my max for today. On route 203 I hit my 5K to go marker.

At this time everything was just right, and I always believe that you should try to end your long runs with quality -so I made a call to finish at 1/2M to MP , which for me is between 9-10:30 pace. My Half Mary PR from a few years ago was just under 2 hrs, and if I were to race one today I would take a WAG that it would fall somewhere in the 1:50-2 range.

My watch split showed 31 and change for the last 5K. Not too bad.

There's still lots of work to do, but perhaps its my best start in years.

Full plate today:

3 mile easy run
20 mins on the trainer
Going to try to get a swim in
Darkroom work