After an outstanding run with Kristin yesterday, I decided to break my Saturday up into 2 runs. Before I got out late in the morning, Ryan from the BCR was asking if anyone wanted to run in the afternoon. That was perfect for my second run.
I could've run all 13 miles at once, like I'd often do. However, I knew breaking the run up into two runs of 6 and 7 miles would be better. The second run was planned for the Nor-Bath Trail. I decided for the first run that I'd just run the neighborhoods around my house.
I thought it would be very hot. Running through the neighborhood, there would be no shade. It was hot at 11 AM. It always is this time of year. However, it wasn't too bad. I went shirtless as usual.
I headed straight for the other neighborhood on the opposite side of the school to start. I figured this would get me 5 or more miles off the bat. I had on my newer shoes and had no problems. The legs felt a little sore early on, but very well rested once I warmed them up.
It was a little hot, but I'm adapting well. After a first mile around 8:30, things picked up and I ran consistently around 7:30 pace. I was chewing gum the whole time, so I wasn't even running hard.
Even though it was hot and I've run these neighborhoods so many times, I was enjoying myself. I'm not sure why. It wasn't too long and I was into the industrial park. After looping through the dead end, I was around 2.5 miles.
I headed uphill, but it wasn't so bad. I took a short detour around the neighborhood before the hill. Since I wanted some extra distance, I ran both of the out and back dead ends in the bigger neighborhood. That added on over a mile.
I was glad to now be over 5 miles, as I headed for the home stretch. It was a nice downhill too. I was feeling so good.
I got back to the elementary school right around mile 6. I decided that I'd run another mile and make it 7 total. I did a short loop in front of the school. That added about a third of a mile. I then went into my neighborhood and did a short loop to finish up.
My legs slipped a little at the end, but my pace didn't. It was great to be done with 7 miles through the heat. I drank no water during the run. I didn't feel that hot, but I was definitely soaked afterward.
I recovered well and felt good for the afternoon run. I met Ryan at Bicentennial Park. He has never run the Nor-Bath Trail. The plan was for 6 miles. At first, I couldn't find him, so I ran up the trail to check the far parking lot. He was late and I found him at the main trailhead.
We headed out toward Airport Road. I didn't want to cross that, so we'd just go out that far in that direction. We went easy to begin and started off chatting. He ran Trexler for the first time the last week and he's running it again tomorrow. I wish I could make it out there.
The first mile was a slow 8:47. I was fine with that, if that's what pace Ryan needed to do. I kind of let him control the pace. We picked it up after that though. We turned around at Airport Road at about 1.25 miles.
We went back toward Bicentennial Park. I realized that I was talking like crazy, so I decided to be a little more quiet. Although I like to talk while running, some moments of silence are nice too.
Once we got to where we started, I took note of the distance (around 2.5 miles). That meant that we would go out 1.75 miles in the other direction. There were a few people out using the trail, but it wasn't too bad.
We maintained a nice and consistent pace. Mile 3 was even a crazy fast 7:39. Ryan handled that well, but I feared a few more of those and he'd fall apart. I tried to back off our pace a little and it seemed to work.
We crossed Weaversville Road, but had to stop for a bit. That slowed our overall pace just slightly. I like the section after that. It's fun going over the bridges. I asked a few questions, but I could tell Ryan was working a bit now, so I didn't say too much.
We ended up turning around at 4.25 miles. It was good to be fairly close to finishing. We turned around right before Savage Road. That was good.
My legs felt awesome, but then somewhere around mile 5, they lost their sharpness. They weren't bad, but not as sharp as they felt earlier. Maybe the miles were getting to be too much.
Since it was cooler and we were in the shade a lot, I was barely breaking a sweat. These last two days have really shown me how I've adapted to the heat. I sweat, but it doesn't bother me too much. The breeze did help too. I think the next step might be pushing the pace a little.
We were nearing an 8 minute pace, even after the slow first mile. However, the Weaversville Road crossing slowed us again. I jumped over the gates at the road crossings for fun.
It was great being in the final mile of the day and week. I felt good. I could sense Ryan was working a bit. In the last half mile, I pulled ahead slightly, but not too much. I wanted to pull him along a little faster, not pull away. I think that worked good. We finished a solid 6th mile. Our overall pace was just over 8 minutes.
This was a good way to end the week. It was nice to run with someone for a second straight day. It was nice to split up the run too. I didn't sweat too much either. Normally, I'm soaked after a 10-15 mile run. Doing half of that with each run, it wasn't nearly as bad.
This cut back week is over and it is now time to ramp it up. Tomorrow, is my last big long run before the marathon. I'm hoping for 23 or 24 miles. I'd like the pace to be fairly fast. I might run at Eddyside. I'm not sure. I'm dealing with the heat better now, but I still can't run too fast. It's a challenge. I might start a little later.
AM Run 7 miles - 54:00 (7:43 pace)
PM Run 6 miles - 48:16 (8:03 pace)
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