Long Run - 13.27 miles

What state do I live in again? California?

It was cold this morning! I had originally planned to be up at 6am, then it became 7am, but all that means that you have to get up early. So what time did my lazy butt fall out of bed?

7:30. I put off this morning's long run with gusto. Have to eat some oatmeal? No problem, I'm your man! Banana, too? Oh, well, I have to take my time with it, let it digest. And don't forget, it takes at least a half hour to feel the effects, so we have to wait.

So before I knew it, I was tweeting at 8:45, telling myself that I'd get out at 9am. The frozen dew had melted off, so away I went! As I mentioned on Twitter, the sun was out and it was a blistering 38 degrees. Out we go.

I came prepared, too. I had my tights, shorts (wouldn't want people to see my slick-butt), microfleece hat, and gloves. Three miles in, I had to ditch the gloves. I think I need new ones, the backpacking gloves just aren't appropriate for Northern California, Sacramento Valley running.

Overall the run went well, but on the way back I ended up walking a short distance about once per mile. It didn't seem like much, but in the end it added up, bigtime. In the last mile or two I wanted to ditch the hat, but there just wasn't anywhere comfortable to put it. I had the gloves hanging from my shorts, but the hat was much heavier and just wasn't comfortable.

Much as I don't want to share them, here are the splits.

Mile 1: 9:02.08
Mile 2: 8:57.99
Mile 3: 9:55.67
Mile 4: 9:41.39
Mile 5: 9:45.91
Mile 6: 9:14.81
Mile 7: 14:13.22 (gel stop)
Mile 8: 9:38.93
Mile 9: 10:05.27
Mile 10: 10:32.50
Mile 11: 10:20.02
Mile 12: 11:43.42
Mile 13: 13:55.28
.27 Mi: 2:59.76



Here's something funny that happened, on the way back over the 5th Street Bridge, I ran past a teenager who was doing the slowwwww walk. You know the one, I think I'll call it "Walmart speed". It's the speed people walk through the most depressing place on earth, then complain how everyone there walk too slow.

Anyway, the teenager. As I approached, she said something to me that I couldn't hear, so I stopped and took my hat off. The exchange went something like this:

"You're running across this bridge, but it's so boring I'll never get across!"
"You know, the faster you move, the faster you get across."
"No, no, no, no!"

And that was about it.

So, where did things go wrong this morning? I suppose I can start with the gloves & hat, but I'm just thinking more that I need to crack down and get my midweek mileage in. When my long runs were going better, I'd done 8 of them at 10 miles or better, 6 of which were 13-14. My average mileage was 20-25 miles, but the last two weeks were more like 15.

So what do we get in the weather forecast for the next week? Rain. It's supposed to be a big storm, the biggest one we've had since last year. So, do I try the midweek runs in the rain, or do I jump on the treadmill? Either way, I just need to get the mileage in.



Anyway, while it took 2:20, I'm ok with it and don't consider it a total loss. Besides, I burned 1502 calories, and got away with eating a big Red Robin burger for lunch. I think so, anyway.