First 10 miler in almost 5 months
The schedule today called for a 10 mile run.
Joining in on the fun today was my neighbor Heather. In addition, her boyfriend Brad came out to walk along the trail and was kind enough to meet us for a water stop.
We set out at 7:30 this morning and drove down to Newville to the rail trail. It was chilly, but not super cold when we started down the trail. At about the 3 mile marker, Brad met us at Fish Hatchery road. Neither of us were thirsty at the time, so Brad agreed to meet us there on the way back as well.
As an aside I really like to say the words Fish Hatchery as all one word (fishatchery)…say it…it’s fun.
By the 5 mile turn around I was ready to…well, turn around. I wasn’t tired and I was still enjoying the run, but my hands were cold and I needed that emotional boost you get from the turn around on an out and back run.
Back we trundled, meeting up with Brad and some drinks. On the way back, the wind kicked up pretty good and chilled my thinly gloved hands to the bone.
It was a great time, very proud of Heather and myself, and also thankful to Brad for the assistance. That was great, I never had anyone meet me out on a trail before.
The only other thing that bears mentioning is my knee. I have been having some weird knee problems for a little while now. So this week I kind of experimented. First, I posited that perhaps my orthotics were bothering my knee. So being the rocket scientist that I am, decided to go for a 4.5 mile run without them. That was fun. My legs were moving in a way they hadn’t in months and months and so it was like running out the door after months off and doing 4.5 miles. So then I decided that for my next trick, I would use a knee brace and put the orthotics back. That worked out pretty well, except that my calves were killing me the entire time because they were so tired from running without the orthotics.
Knee braces kind of suck. If they are big enough to hold everything in the right spot, they tend to bunch up with movement and make your leg uncomfortable. But it HAS helped. My knee feels better when I wear it on the run.
By the time todays run was over, my knee was singing pretty good. I am icing it as I type this and hoping this is a temporary thing.
1 Mile Splits: 9:50, 9:38, 9:30, 9:42, 9:35, 9:33, 9:35, 9:35, 9:41, 9:07
I am happy with those times and splits. It bodes well for my goal time of 8:46 Miles for a 1:55 finish.
Some stats:
Distance: 10.02
Time: 1:35:49 (pace: 9:33)
Average Heart Rate: 142 bpm
Calories Burned: 1419
Good stuff… Your times (not pushing it) look identical to my times when I wasn’t pushing it. I guess that shouldn’t be a surprise.
I just said “fishatchery” a few times really fast.
Thank you!
I should add I said it while eating Swedish Fish.
yummy