First Long Run

I went long today for the first time. I thought that Wednesday's 60 minutes would be my long run for the week, because I was worried about running 90 minutes the first week back. But it turned out fine. I wasn't tired or taxed or working hard at any point, except for the last quarter mile.

Pat and Chris Koehler started at 7am, at which point the weather on my phone said it was 20 degrees, feels like 10. Boo. But I met Justin, Jack, and Sara Lasker at 7:30 to join up with them. Justin brought a college friend who he'd recently reunited with at church. I forget his name, but he wanted to run a marathon and Justin made it sound like he hadn't run since college. Very ambitious first steps to take. We went over into Stafford and around Pratt and Clearview. Things were good. Then we went into the quarry for a brief out & back. I defended the new W&M coach's decision to kick some kids off of the team for violating team alcohol policies. I don't care, it's not like he's asking them to do it for moral or legal reasons. He's asking them to make a sacrifice to be the best runners that they can be during the season. If athletes won't do that, then they shouldn't be on the team. And if a teammate has to be the one to tell the coach, then so be it. That teammate is just trying to look out for his team; his family. More power to them.

On the way back from the quarry on the canal, people started to separate. Pat and Jack fell back, and then Justin went straight up to Sunken while Chris, Sara and I went around the Hyland's house. Sara and I dropped Chris on campus, caught Jack at the bell tower, and then caught Justin and Pat as we turned from College to Hanover. Justin and I made a go at it, and the pace dropped dramatically. We averaged 4:50 pace for the last .18 miles. That doesn't say much though, as the last 4 miles went 7:34, 7:05, 6:42, 6:41. Sara and I were picking them off. It's funny that I have to wait for a girl to come home to run with me at that pace. She was doing it too though, it didn't seem like she was putting any effort into it.

I looked at Justin during this kicking frenzy and he was suffering, but then the bastard dropped it to another gear. Not to be outdone, I kept it up with him. It was definitely stupid and unnecessary. I felt it in my left leg. I won't be doing that again.

I was just under 90 minutes, just over 12 miles, averaged 7:23 pace. Fastest of the week (probably) and the longest. But it felt great to be out there doing it.

Scott, are we going to lift today?

Garmin Connect