hills

A Short Long Run

July 15, 2011 by Kristy 17 Comments

7/15/11
13 miles / 1:52 / 8:39 avg pace

After doing a few weeks of 18 and 20 mile runs, I’m not sure I can even count today as a long run. I have to admit, it was a nice break to only have to run 13 miles!

My neighbor, Maximus (his alias), joined me for the first 10 miles. He also ran the first 10 with me last week (the hot and nauseating run). I’m generally a solo runner but it’s nice to have a running buddy sometimes to make the miles fly by.

Today I stuck to my hilly loop. Generally I start and finish on the hilly loop but cross the scary bridge to get some middle flat miles in. Remember this scary bridge?

Me and the bridge made amends after my bloody 15-miler that resulted in a stitch. I’m still terrified of falling so I try to avoid crossing it if I can. I just didn’t see the point today so I got a double dose of hill work.

Onto the details. Splits…

And elevation. OK, it doesn’t look that hilly but trust me there are some tough ones in there, namely after miles 4 and 9.

Do you like hills? Would you prefer a hilly race or a flat race? If it’s a shorter distance race, I obviously prefer flat but for a marathon, some hills are preferable. NJM was pancake flat and I feel like I fatigued faster since I was constantly using the same muscles over and over.

Progress!

June 4, 2011 by Kristy 12 Comments

6/4/11

13 miles / 1:53 / 8:42 avg pace

Today was a good run. I was excited and the weather was beautiful. I swear I’m not pulling anyone’s leg when I say that I was excited. I love long runs and look forward to them each week.

I’m doing my long runs on the same hilly route I used for Steamtown last year (beginning – hills, middle – flat, end – hills). Two things really stood out after this run:

The first mile is especially hilly and last year my pace would always be around 9:50. Today I ran the first mile in 9:23.
My overall time – 1:53 – is 4 minutes shy of my half marathon PR (1:49) last September. I think it’s time to race another half marathon!

I love seeing progress in numbers. It’s so satisfying knowing all your hard work is finally paying off!

Friday the 13th

May 12, 2011 by Kristy 8 Comments

5/13/11

13 miles

2:00

9:16 avg pace

During the summer I try and do my long runs on Fridays. Sometimes this means getting up before 5AM, getting ready, driving to my long run spot, and banging out a 20-miler so that I’m home and ready to work by 9AM (I work from home on Fridays). It’s so worth it to have your long run out of the way before the weekend begins.

Today I kicked off my Friday summer runs with the same hilly route that I used last summer for marathon training. After NJ’s flat course I really need to step up my hill workouts so I’m ready for anything come September.

I was especially happy this morning and thankful that my quad feels 100% back to normal after the marathon! A small part of me was afraid it was an injury (instead of dehydration) and that running on it for 6 more miles during the race made things worse.

And how can you not be happy when you get to spend your Friday mornings looking at this? Since today’s run was a “fun run” I snapped some pictures. I only had my BlackBerry so the quality isn’t the best.

I was going to include a self portrait but didn’t want to scare away readers 🙂

Any races this weekend? Or crazy training runs?