Freethinker ~ Freerunner

My long run today was a true challenge of my abilities as a runner.  This was one of those days that I just did not feel 100%.  When I felt myself breathing a little harder than I thought I should have been during the first mile I knew there was a chance that I might not have the best run of my life today.  That said, generally I try to keep my thoughts as positive and optimistic as possible.  I try never to let myself think that I am going to have a bad run today.  I've learned that an ability think that you can run the distance and to actually see through to to the finish in your mind before it has actually happened is paramount to success as a distance runner.  So let me exclaim that on this run I was tapping in to those mental powers quite often.  It is on runs like this one that it is so helpful to have a long history of other long runs to call upon mentally in order to tell yourself that you can do it, you can finish this 22 mile run today.  

In the end I did make my 22 miles in an 8:07 pace, which is somewhat disappointing looking at my training log.  My last three 20 mile runs have been at a 7:44 average pace.  I thought that I would be able to hold that pace on a 22 mile run fairly easily, but other factors at play can influence expectations.  The big difference I can see when contrasting today's run with my previous three 20 mile runs is temperature.  It was a full 12 degrees warmer at 62 today as contrasted with 50 last week, 52 the week before that, and 44 the week before that.  I now believe that I run my best when the temperature is in the low 50's.  Runner's World Magazine did a study on this and found that runners achieve PR's at 52 degrees more often that at any other temperature.  When looking at my training log I can see that I set 4 PR runs during October, and the temperature was at 52 degrees or less for 3 out of the 4 PR runs.  

To end on a positive note, I am overall very satisfied with my run today.  Running 22 miles marks a milestone in my running journey.  I'm looking forward to finishing this entry, eating a nice big breakfast, and then relaxing for the rest of today.