Progression run - 16+ miles with last 30 minutes hard and uphill.
Weather: 26°F, 72% humidity, hardly any wind.
This was a very difficult run in many ways. I left the house after some discord at home. I got started and my legs felt heavy and I was worrying about having to do 30 minutes hard at the end of the run. And then a mile into my run I did something that I've never done on a run that I can recall. I fell down. I tripped over an uneven spot in the sidewalk and fell forward. I caught myself with my hands and since I had gloves on, I got my gloves dirty and didn't scrape up my hands. And I didn't even fall hard enough to tear a hole in my gloves. But I must have banged my left knee just a little bit. I think I have a small bruise. I wasn't really hurt, but I kind of wanted to cry and just turn around and go home. But I didn't cry. And I didn't go home. I got up and dusted myself off and kept going.
I ran the first 13 miles at an average pace of 10:06. In truth, some of it was considerably slower than that and some was considerably faster. This route has a really significant downhill stretch for about 4.5 miles starting at mile 7, so my pace was around 9:00 through that section, though I was trying to keep it easy because I knew that what goes down must come up when you're running a loop. I started the real uphill after mile 12 and then started running harder a mile later. My pace on the last 30 minutes (3.36 miles) was 8:55. It was definitely hard. I really had to dig deep to finish this run. And the second that my watch said it had been 30 minutes for the last part, I stopped and walked the rest of the way home. It was only a few house lengths anyway.
I'm glad this run is over. Now I've got to drive up to Fort Collins to attend the all-state orchestra concert that my son is playing in. He's first chair in the bass section. Less that sound too impressive, there are two all-state orchestras, and he is in the lower one. Still, we're proud of him for winning section leader. He didnt' feel like his audition went very well, but apparently it was better than the others. | 