Another 12 Miles

Finally made it out for my long run last night - a scheduled 14 miles. Although I've been trying to get sleep and eat well, and even though I hadn't run since Friday, I still felt sluggish and tired. I talked myself through the first three miles and began to settle in for my first 7 mile loop, though at a very slow pace. When I finished the first loop, I wanted very much to just head home. I continued on into the second loop, but when I got to the turn-off for my 5 mile loop, I decided to let myself off the hook and just do 12 miles. I may add a mile or two to my recover run this evening.

Interestingly, my pace increased for the second loop and around 9 miles into the run, just as I started heading for home, I dug into a moderate hill and suddenly began to feel light. Not light-headed, just smooth and easy for the first time in the run. I've never experienced "runners high" but I imagine that might be what it feels like. For about 2 miles, I felt like I could run forever and my pace hovered around a 10:15 mile (up from 11:45 or so).

This week, I'll get in a short recovery run today and try for some speed work Thursday if the legs feel up to it. Then we're off to the East Coast for 10 days. We'll spend this weekend in New Hampshire for a wedding, then spend about a week in NYC.