The Long Run

This morning I ran 10 miles (10.3, actually). Sue rode her bike ahead of me. I felt really good for the first 5 miles or Sue, but then my knees started tightening up. It was no big deal, but it really stung when I would go down hills. I finished 1 hour, 25 minutes, and I was strong in the last mile too. Physically, I feel ready for the half marathon.

After my run, my right knee was really bad. I went to Rapid Transit and exchanged my new Mizuno's for Saucony Grid 5. Nothing against the Mizuno's, they were great under 5 miles. But the didn't stabilize my rolling-over ankles enough when the distances went longer.

KofC 5K

I was really looking forward to running the Knights Of Columbus 5K. It was the only race I had run this year where everything was the same as last year. I set my pre-race goal to break 23 minutes. The overall pace was slower than last year: this year's winning time was almost a full minute behind that of last year.

One thing I did differently this year from the year before is that I worked out on Saturday. I think that came back to haunt me in the later stages of the race.

I started out quick, and held a good pace through at least the first mile. There was some guy running right on my shoulder for most of the first mile and a half. I finally put him behind me on a small hill. I passed the 2-mile mark at about 14:30 -- right on pace. But as I made my way down Southgate I just ran out of gas. I didn't stop running, but I was hurting, and I could tell I was slowing down.

As we approached the final hill up to the finish, I was trying and trying to find some reserve to finish strong, but there was none forthcoming. I struggled home in 23:13, good for 35th place overall (out of 90 finishers).

Last discovery

I was really looking forward to this run, my longest run ever: 8.2 miles. The first mile was all uphill, followed by a mile of downhill. Then we turned around: running up that hill kicked my ass! But I just kept trudging, kept pushing, even as my ears were popping, and finally crested it. It was a long downhill, followed by a few miles of flat or downhill.

As always, I felt terrible at mile 2-3. But once I got past mile 4, I could have kept going forever. Although it was starting to get dark as I ran through the woods. Even the last little hill up to the finish didn't feel bad: I could have easily kept going. I finished in 1:11:13, or about an 8:44 pace. Considering how slow I went up that second hill, that's not so bad.