20.11 mi, 2:58:43, 8:53 avg, elev gain 587 feet, HR 144 bpm
Vienna, Virginia
20 mile long run while traveling, those aren't always easy (actually not sure if I've ever done a 20 mile run while traveling, but have done some long runs). Yesterday's travel day was a bit crazy. The evening ended with it looking like I'd have a running partner for 20 miles.
Met brother-in-law John in the hotel lobby along with Jacob. Sarah was supposed to meet us, John called her after waiting a little bit and she had decided to cancel. Drove over to the trail (Washington and Old Dominion rails to trail). John and Jacob were going for a shorter run and headed east, I headed west. I had told Sarah I was going to do a 9:30 pace. Honestly, I wasn't sure if I was really going to be up for that, but now I was on my own so it didn't matter, but still I didn't want this run to take forever.
First mile was slow, right at 11:00, but the next 5 miles were in the 9's going from 9:56 down to 9:17. Then for the rest of the run I was in the 8's. The running started feeling easier. It was a very nice morning, with starting temp at 69 degrees. The trail was filled with lots of cyclists and a good amount of runners. I liked the yellow stripe they painted in the middle to mark the direction lanes.
Just after 3.3 miles there was a water fountain, and also a pretty steep (but short) down and back up hill. There were little rollers all along as well as some gradual inclines. It turned out it was more up than down on the way out so net downhill on the way back.
Through one of the towns there was a small fitness festival going on. Stopped there to refill my bottle on the way back.
With my overall pace at 8:53, I was more than happy since I had some doubts the night before how 9:30 would feel. Maybe this training is starting to pay off.
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