The cycle I've done all my long run in races. If I can find a 18-20 mile race, great. But usually I find a half marathon and extended it. It's really the best way to do a LR. All week you just dread the lonely 2 1/2 - 3 hour 18-20 mile long run. But with a race, even if not running full speed, the first 10-13 fly by. Then it's just an hour or 75 minutes till you're done. Also, the quality of run is usually better.
This was my last exertion run of the cycle, before a full taper. I had already done 17 on the mill Monday, and a total of 51 miles by Friday evening. I arrived in SA late, about 9:00 pm. And immediately ran 4 on the hotel treadmill as I ate a dozen cookies at the girl's school Christmas party. I had already done 6 in the pre-dawn morning, and 5 after work.
When I arrived at Schnabel Park for the 7:30 am start, the weather was perfect, chilly. I wore my heavy trainer shoes, and wasn't even concerned about time. In fact, I didn't even pickup a timing chip. The course was a 5 or 10 miler, which I assumed would be 5 mile laps. But it turned out to be out and back, with the five milers turning early.
There were only about 150 so runners, which is about a 1/3rd of what I expected. The gun fired and we were off. I didn't even turn on my watch and just cruised.
The course was great. A path through the park, which was somewhat wooded (not to thick). I thought it would be a great place to train.
The path was completely paved and ranged from 3-10 feet in width. The course also had rolling hills. All pretty small, but enough that you could feel it in your legs. The only downside was much of the path was hard hard hard concrete. My weight is quite light, but I still felt the pounding on the body.
For the 10, I ran mostly at an easy pace, but picked it up a little in some sections just to break it up. When I finished, the race timing clock read 1:14, which is about 7:30 / mile. I immediately turned around and started back to the 5 mile turnaround point. However, I slowed because this section was the most hilly, and had the most concrete, and I was already feeling the strain.
As I finished my extra 5, the awards were underway. I just went immediately to my car as we have Christmas prep at home. By 12:30 I was back doing family and house chores.
No comments:
Post a Comment