NYE Long Run

Here are a few pics from my long run yesterday. It was amazing! Most of it was due to the awesome weather. Hal's training plan called for 7 miles. I was looking forward to getting to run in this unseasonably warm weather - it was 55 degrees when I headed out. I started off my run at Murphey Candler Park. I love that this place is only a mile away from my house and has a great running trail. 

 

The run starts over this "lake" (more like big pond) and continues into the woods. I love running there because it reminds me so much of trail running in high school. It was great to run where it is quiet and away from all of the cars. Plus, trails keep it interesting with varying hills and turns. The only thing downside about the trail is that it is only 1.5 miles around. After my first loop I tossed my long sleeve shirt back into my car and headed back around for lap two. Before I knew it I was three miles in and almost halfway done already. 

The big thing that I tried to focus on yesterday was my pace. Hal says to run about 20-30 seconds slower than your race pace. Running around a 4:16 (my predicted time from Runner's World) means that I will be running about a 9:47-9:48 mile, so I should be aiming for at least a 10 minute mile on my long runs. Not much slower and not much faster. Practicing at this pace on my long runs will allow me to be comfortable running at 9:48 on race day and to know how it feels to run that pace. 

What I learned yesterday is that running that slow is HARD! Within the first few minutes I looked down at my Garmin and notice I was running at 8:49 - way too fast. I had to constantly remind myself to slow down. It is hard to run slower when you feel like you can push it, but I need to learn this technique. It will be critical to slow my pace for the marathon if I want to make it all the way through the 26 miles. Going out too fast because of excitement will mean hitting "the wall" sooner and fading in the last critical miles.    

I will update the blog with my Garmin breakdown, but here is my finishing time which I was pretty happy with (an average of 9:35 pace). My last mile I pushed it because I felt like I had a lot left (which I was VERY happy about). I will be interested Garmin's mile by mile details.

Overall it was a GREAT run and really got me excited about the many more long runs to come. Hal's training advice is already paying off. I can't wait for what is next!!