Pace: 8:23 min./per mile avg.Weather: Mostly Cloudy, 75°F
Course: Lock 33 (Edgewood Avenue) to Ayrult Road via Erie Canal Trailway and back
This morning's fourteen mile run is the first in what will be a series of weekend long runs of progressively longer distances. Today was the first time I think I've run that distance all at once in many a moon and despite finishing last weekend's more quickly (7:14 min.-per-mile) paced half-marathon in about 1:35, the additional 1.5 miles and easier pace (8:23 min.-per-mile) added almost 30 minutes to my overall run time. I would actually like to slow my long slow distance run pace to about 9:00 min.-per-mile. I think it would make the longer distance more comfortable and allow me to better prepare for the psychological rigors of the longer distances.
As I'm running any distance I try to stay in the moment and focus on my breathing, telling myself "breathe in, breathe out" or on my body movements by reminding myself that "right small stride left small stride..." Sometimes I fall of the train of thought and need to recalibrate again by returning to my breath or body.
The last two miles were a challenge this morning, but as I told my stepson last evening after picking him from his own cross-country practice, "Sometimes I don't look forward to running, but once I'm finished I don't know what I'd have done if I hadn't gone and done it."
Breathe in, breathe out... YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!
No comments:
Post a Comment