Today was my long run. I did the first 7.4 with my fiancee, and we went at a slow steady pace around 9:30, with the uphills being significantly slower. It was all trail running and the terrain was varied with a good deal of uphill running. I think we ended up going around 1000' uphill, and this was all done at an elevation of 4000', significantly higher than Portland at around 300-400'. The last 5.6 miles were done on my own at a faster rate, but by the end I was pretty pooped. Overall, my pace ended up being around 9 minutes with a HR average of 152, but with a lot of uphill running. I really enjoyed the run. The trail was beautiful and followed a bubbling creek for a good portion of the run. If you are ever in Bend, OR, I recommend running in Shevlin Park and the Deschutes River Trail. One week left until my training program for Portland. After some of Sasha's comments, I am really optimistic about making my 7:15 goal at Portland to qualify for Boston.
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