Ran today. Ran Friday night, too, just 5 easy miles, but since I forgot to blog about it when it was fresh in my mind, I’m going to gloss over it.
But, today, I planned on a long run, 8 miles. Even though it was sunny outside, it was still cold, so I headed for the gym. Wore my Asics. Music was Eminem’s “Encore” (thanks, Tracy, for burning that for me!) for the first half, then Gorillaz “Demon Days” for the last half. Since I expected the total time to be close to 90 minutes, I brought Gatorade and Cliff Bars with me.
I started out at a 10:20 pace, and kept that up for the first two miles, where I had to break for a drink. I pushed hard to finish the next two miles at a faster pace, but it was not to be. My total time, including my walking breaks, was 42:00 and I completed 4.08 miles, which averages to a 10:18 pace or so. Not bad.
After a short bathroom break, I set out to reach my goal. I thought I was going faster, until a 2:00 long walk break right around 2.5 miles. Still, I reached 4.0 miles in 41:27, which averages to a 10:21 pace, only slightly slower than my first half. I have to say I strongly considered stopping my second session at 3.92 miles, because I had only promised myself I would go 8 miles total… but that last .08 miles wasn’t that hard.
I still wish I could just keep going at a running gait the entire time, but I have to remember that I have only been doing these long runs for a few months. It will take me a while to get conditioned to running the entire distance. And I’m not competing with anyone but myself, so every time I do a little bit better, I win.
Oh, small note: I have a hangnail on my left big toe – painful, but it didn’t hurt my running.