It was a warm day yesterday. However, my body really needed an off day. Since the temperatures were supposed to remain high today, I took yesterday off. I got up from a nap this afternoon and then was too tired to run. I went at night again. To punish myself for that, I added a mile to the plan. I'd now do 14 miles, instead of 13.
The temperature was kind of nice, considering it was after dark and early March. It was in the mid 40s. However, there was a pretty good wind that made it a little chilly. I found it quite comfortable. I wore a shell over shorts sleeves and had on shorts on the bottom. The real issue with the wind was how hard I had to work.
The off day made a massive different. I felt so fresh at the start. It was like I was a new person. I suddenly had pep in my step. It was amazing how much more enjoyable I found the run, once I realized I felt great. I looped around my neighborhood for the first mile.
Since I had a fairly long run planned, I needed to get into the neighborhood on the other side of the school. I figured if I could get half of my miles done here, that would be good. I headed on over there. I went up the slight hill.
I decided to take the dead end roads to add distance. Taking each one would get me close to 7 miles when I arrived back at the school. Coming back up the hills was actually a challenge, as I had to face the wind too. I saw a UPS truck on both roads. I was thrilled to look at my watch while going up the second hill and seeing it just over 3 miles. I didn't think I was that far out.
Going downhill toward the industrial park was nice. I normally go straight there. Today, I decided to head around the small neighborhood first. I went out to the farthest road. This got me more distance.
As usual, I had to be careful near the industrial park. That road is busy. Dance class must have been close to getting out. I did an out and back before going into the industrial park. Any little bit I could add was great.
As I went around the last building, I saw I was at 5.5 miles. Although I had run well, I had a long way to go. Soreness was creeping in a little too. I realized that if I repeated the route on the way back, I'd get to the school at mile 10. That would be awesome.
I did just that. I even added a little in the small neighborhood. I went down some road with new houses. It connected to the other road, but I turned around and took the long way there. I headed uphill and back to the other neighborhood.
To get to mile 10, I had to go out and back on both the dead end roads again. I was around 8 miles when I started those. I did that, but coming uphill against the wind was a chore. It started to really wear me down. Most of the way back to the school was windy.
I headed back to the school and then over to the other neighborhood. I was at mile 10 now. I thought of two shorter out and backs. I headed toward the first one. Going out with the wind at my back was great and allowed some recovery. As I went out farther, I thought I might as well just loop back to the newer part.
I was going up a hill and about to turn left. Then, I realized if I went right and did a short loop on parallel streets, I could add another half mile or so. I did just that.
I was over mile 12 when I got to the newer part. That had a nice downhill, but the headwind was destroying me. I felt like I had run many more miles. Almost all the way back would be into the wind too. I just had to battle.
I was thrilled to get into the last mile. I was going to do a short loop in the older section. I went out a couple more streets to Gable Drive though. I then had some downhill. I figured I'd be almost at mile 14 back at the school.
I sputtered slowly back to the school. The wind kicking my butt the whole way. I got there and finished up the loop and ran up the black path. I stopped there to end the run.
It was quite challenge today. I enjoyed the 14 miles more than I thought I would. It wasn't as mentally challenging as usual. Still, the wind made quite the physical challenge. It felt like I had run 20 miles. I could've done several more miles with the wind at my back, but almost no more with a headwind.
This is a cut back slightly week. I'll still run a lot though. Tomorrow, I'm not sure. Maybe 10 miles on pavement. Maybe I'll bust out some shorter, but harder efforts for once. At some point, I have to mix in some fast runs. I would like my body to be a little better conditioned first though.
14.07 miles - 2:11:05 (9:19 pace) 91 feet of elevation gain
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