Saturday Long Run Update

On Saturday April 25, our coaches took us out of Central Park to practice a hard long run.  We met at 178th Street in Manhattan and started by running over the George Washington Bridge into New Jersey.  Once in NJ we ran north along the Hudson River in a park.  It was a tough run b/c it was: run away for an hour and a half and then turn around and run back.  It wasn't anything like running loops in Central Park we're you're never too far from the group or the bag watch station.  

The primary purpose of this run was to increase time on our feet and secondarily to increase distance.  There were a lot of big hills so it was a pretty slow course at times.  Altogether, I ran 18.65 miles, which is a new all-time high and my average pace was 9 minutes and 26 seconds per mile which I am very happy with.  It was also unseasonable hot with temperatures well into the 80s.  I was nervous about the temperature since most of my runs had been in cold or cool weather, but I was able to stay hydrated and I felt strong throughout the run.

I am also happy to report that this was my first run of 15 miles or more where I didn't feel injured afterwards.  I had some expected soreness and tightness but no major IT Band or knee pain.  At the end of the run I definitely could have kept going if I needed to, whereas last week I couldn't have gone another quarter mile.  Last week my legs felt heavy for the last few miles and this week I never felt that sensation.  

This was a very positive day of running and I felt happy with my day even when problems started piling up in the afternoon.  I had such a positive feeling after this run, I can't imagine how much better actually finishing the marathon is going to be!