Ran my annual Birthday Challenge run. 31 years old today- every year this gets a little harder:) So my plan was to do this run out on the Little Black Mt loop. I got out there and got running just before 7 a.m. Wanted to finish the workout as a first priority. Up next I wanted to try and hit Tinmanish tempo on the middle 10 and the last goal was to feel strong throughout. I did the first mile as a pre-warmup in (8:26) north of the truck. I saw a badger on this part (way cool to see) I wanted to keep all 3 ten mile loops to themselves. 10 mile warm up in 1:14:58 or 7:31 avg. Just tried to relax and not work or think about the distance during this part. This section seemed to go on forever and was harder than the next two loops combined. 10 mile tempo in 1:03:58 or 6:26 avg. A pretty solid effort here. The whole loop is on dirt roads or trails. You basically climb for the first 5.3 and then gradually drop back around. I hit straight 6 min pace on the flat sections, sub 6 on the downhill and over 6 on the uphill? Anyways I was way happy about the time for a workout done solo. 10 mile cool down in 1:09:21. Felt strong all the way to the finish and never felt a "wall" coming. That is good for a longish distance like this. This loop was the most enjoyable. Just an amazing morning out- slight overcast, no wind, nice smell of the desert in full bloom! I took note of where I was at the 26.2 mile mark (3:02 and some change). So I missed a sub 3 hour marathon this morning but still got my BQ to keep it respectable. Had a good time and wished my running buddies would have had the day off too to come run.
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