22 miles in 2:52:11, 7:49/mi, HR 153. Over the hills and through the woods and back over the hills and through more woods and.... Another fantastic day in the Pacific NW, Sunny, starting temp ~ 40F, ending temp ~ 49F. Decided to make this another trail/hilly long run today. All went according to plan until about 1/3 of the way in my path turned from dirt to icy and frozen snow. Since this was the start of the middle hill I'd intended and there was no way I was going to be able to keep footing, I went with Plan B....take the next stretch as a nice long downhill at a faster pace and leave a punishing hill for later in the run. Got some true cross-country miles in, complete with muddy shoes, stream crossings, thorn bushes, and a 9:38 mile which was blazing fast given the terrain. Tackled a long 3+ mile hill that I'd not run for many months that previously reduced me to intermittent walking in order to get to the top, managing to keep around an 8:00/mi avg. Decided late in the run to extend the run from 20 to 22 miles, giving myself a nice 2.5 mile downhill to the finish as a reward, so the last miles were 7:17, 7:08, and 7:08. A solid enjoyable long run. Some happy snaps from my run: Asics GT 2120 - 92.02 miles. |