I've been slacking a lot lately. It's been nearly a week since the last run. I was about to head down to MD, because it didn't look like I'd have work today. Instead, I was called to work late. I could've run in the afternoon, but didn't feel like it. Instead, I got out there after supper. Now, it is dark at that point. The plan was simply to run the neighborhoods around here.
Weather and darkness made things a little tough. I had to wear a yellow shell jacket, but that was more than I needed. It was a mix of warm and chilly, since it was dark. During the day, it was around 70 degrees.
I didn't have a true plan for this road run. I figured I'd loop around most of the main stuff. I estimated that that would get me around 9 miles and be a solid run. This would be my first pavement run in over a year. Last week, I was on rail trail. This run I took off much more relaxed than that one.
I'm definitely not used to road running. In the first mile, I had a bunch of small aches. They went away, although I never felt great and have some minor soreness at the moment. I definitely will have to get used to this. The good thing is I still don't plan to road run much.
I do enjoy running in the cover of darkness. However, there were a lot of cars out. They all saw me, but it was still annoying. A few people were out walking dogs too. Some of the dogs barked at me.
I did a short loop and didn't look at my watch until after 2.5 miles. Still, I was disappointed, as I thought I was farther along. I simply don't enjoy road running, even on a decent night like tonight.
I just kept plugging away, nice and easy. Before I knew it, I was on to the other small loop. I figured this was around 1.5 miles long. This has a gradual hill, but it wasn't bad. I thought about looking at my watch, but there was no point. I knew where I had to run. The distance didn't matter much.
One nice thing about night is you have to hold your watch up to your headlamp. Therefore, I look at it less. I didn't care about mileage or time/pace anyway.
I got to running along a gradual hill. Then, it was the far loop across the road. This has the steepest climb. I ran easy and wasn't breathing heavy there either. I barely noticed it. I was definitely running this ultra style.
I crossed back over the road and headed back. This had another small hill. I finally looked at my watch around here. It was over 7 miles. Last time I had looked, it was around 3.5 miles. I looked a little more after this.
I continued to simply cruise along. I was getting a little more sore and tired. I'm not used to continuously running for this long. I usually break up my runs with hiking.
I got back to the school and headed to my house. I could've run some loops to get to 9 miles, but there was no point. I got over 8.5 miles and was quite happy with that. I was happy to be out there running.
It wasn't the best run, but not the worst either. I need to start running more. I definitely can't run on roads more than once or twice a week. I need some new road shoes at some point too.
I'm hoping to get back on trails tomorrow. I'd like some Katellen Trail repeats. That would be fun. It might still be warm, so that part might suck. I need to run hill repeats more often. I need to incorporate a lot of different things into my training. I have to improve in several areas.
8.64 miles - 1:15:47 (8:46 pace) 185 feet of elevation gain
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