on the shore of the ultimate sea

Big distance! Big changes? Hills climbed!

7/11: Long, slow distance. 14 miles in 2′22″, 10′15″ miles, AM

Well, this ended up quite differently than it started.

We had an easy route down and across the Brooklyn bridge planned for a tidy 9 mile run, equal to my longest so far, but by the time I got onto the bridge I was gripped by a weird exploratory sense; I didn’t feel tired at all and wanted to keep going. So I trailed one of the leading packs of runners and made my way across the isle of Manhattan and onto the beautiful athletic paths on the west side, running past the tennis courts and smoothie stands and people out enjoying their Saturday mornings. My euphoria wore down around the seventh mile, though, so I paused and drank a sports drink and had a nutrition bar and went back to Prospect Park.

This was a real breakthrough for me; at no point was I really tired. My legs were sore by the time I got back, and that endured for a bit, but it wasn’t terrible.

Seeing as this is more than a half marathon I may have to reassess my goals. Should I do the full 26.2? I don’t know yet. Our coaches say if you can do 16 you can do the 26m, but I’d prefer to do 26 then do 26. Is that crazy, runners? I don’t really like the idea of not having run that distance before and going out and doing it.

Anyway, stay tuned about a possible distance upgrade. Also noted I should get one of those water bottle holders.

7/4: 8x 1/4 mile uphill max-outs, w/ 1/4 cool downs and a miles warmup.

Hills! Fun!

I’m not sure if the Hamptons course is hilly or not, but we certainly got a lesson on how to run them.

(And we got a view of two red-tailed hawks prowling in the park!)

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