I didn't sleep well last night and I wasn't able to go to the bathroom this morning, so I skipped out on running with the Breakfast Club Runners. I went out on my own a bit later on. I decided to run to my old high school and back. That's about the 10 miles I needed for the run. I always enjoy this route because it is fun to run into town and then to the school where my running career started. I also love the route because it has some hills, but isn't too challenging for a long run.
It was chilly out when I started. I went with short sleeves and was fine once I got warmed up. I could've probably went with the arm sleeves too though. The start was annoying because the first two miles are boring and flat along Route 946. The shoulder slopes there so I was running on the road when there was no traffic, but on the shoulder as cars went by. This got kind of annoying and my right side started bothering me. I was surprised to actually pass a woman on this stretch. I usually don't see runners on that route.
Once I got to Gracedale, the route got better. The shoulder is wider, smoother and flatter there. The hill wasn't too tough and I only started have minor breathing trouble once I got right to the top. Of course, part of that was that I was running at an easy pace early on. I was just under 9 minutes per mile. I wanted to start easy and finish strong.
I had to go to the bathroom, but was hoping that it would eventually go away. That didn't happen so I went to the port-o-john at the new Middle School. That ended up being just under 5 miles into the run. The short stop caused me to slow my average pace. Shortly after the stop, it hit exactly a 9 minute pace. Once that happened, I decided to pick up my pace.
As I started up the hill near the high school on the way back, I saw a guy running on the sidewalk. I put in some extra effort to get up the hill (although still not too hard) and I ended up passing that guy. I can't imagine he enjoyed that too much.
I wasn't really working any harder during the second half of the run, but I worked on a smoother form and better turnover from my legs. That made a big difference in my pace without causing me to breathe any harder. My pace really picked up as I cruised down the hill by Gracedale. I was gliding along. Shortly after that, I saw a cop drive by. I saw one earlier in the run too and if it was the same one, he must've thought I was crazy to still be running an hour later.
My legs seemed to feel a lot better in the second half the run when I picked up the pace. I continued with the solid form and my pace continued to drop on the relatively flat final couple miles on Route 946. After I hit 8 miles, my legs did get a little sore, but they held up throughout the run. I just kept focusing on being smooth and it really worked.
I finished up strong and negative split the workout. I'd love to be able to do that in a race someday. Maybe if I do it more during training. Even running by myself and on a hilly course, my pace was only 9 seconds per mile slower than the flat group run with the Breakfast Club Runners last week.
It is tough because I like running with run group, but they usually only run on rail trails and those are so boring. I like the company, but hate the routes. Today presented a nice change. I'm a little sore now, but feel pretty good. It is great to be able to run 10 miles again. It wasn't too long ago that I struggled with 10 minutes of running. I'm definitely making progress.
After another 35 mile week, tomorrow is another much needed off day. I only get one of those a week now. I took another ice bath today after the run, but there is still some minor soreness. I need to wear something on my feet during those ice baths because my feet get so cold. It is a love/hate relationship with ice baths.
Monday will be some speedwork intervals again. I'm not sure where I'll run that at yet. Mostly likely one of those boring rail trails though. Maybe I'll try the Ironton Rail Trail. I haven't run there yet. Hopefully it'll be cooler than last week's interval session.
10 miles - 1:27:12 (8:43 pace)
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