Monday, January 11, 2010

First Long Run In 4 Weeks

How much did I run? 14.65 miles according to my Nike+ and 14.01 according to my Garmin. How cold was it when I left the house? 29 degrees. This is my first long run of  2010, the first run in my marathon training, and the first long run in a bit over a month. Not having a long run in such a long time, not to mention taking a 2 week break previously clearly showed. However, I cannot attribute the result of this run to the lack of running, but to a problem with my calves. I started feeling my left calf getting really tight after only a block into the run. I am not sure if the cold weather was to blame but this condition remained through the entire run forcing me to take more walking breaks than expected. I thought that the tightness was going to go away once I warmed up but it didn't.

My original plan was to take it slow, but have a solid long run. I am not making a big deal about the time on this run since I originally was not planning on a finish time, but after being able to finish this distance in 2:10-2:15 time, well, it kinda puts things in perspective. Next week same distance again but time will be a factor.  What does 14 miles look like on a map? lol


On my way to Glen Island I saw no one running or walking. I did see a Hawk. It was standing on a branch fairly close to the ground. At first I thought it was a fake one but I had never seen it there before. As I got closer it turned and looked towards me. I figured "let me take my iPhone with it's crapy camera and take a shot"

The trail was full of ice patches all over the place which made it hard not to stop and walk to avoid slipping. By the time I got to mile 5 I wanted to turn around and make it an even 10 miler run. But being only 1 mile from Glen Island I decided to keep going and push the run to make it at least a half marathon, but I ended up with 14 miles.  Once in Glen Island I hit the paths and ran up some small but steep hills. As I got close to mile 7, some guy decided to let his German Shepherd loose causing me to cut my staying short and make up for the .25 by going in circles around the neighborhood near the house.
I was trying to come up with an excuse to stay home and not run today, but wifey got me out of the house.. lol, and I have to say,  I am thankful she did and that I got to run. I usually run the next day after a long run but both calves are still sore so I think I will call in a rest day tomorrow. But I may go to the gym and do some core instead. we'll see.

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