The valley temperatures took a drastic dip, this week, and the humidity left ever-so-briefly, so I took advantage and moved my typical-Sunday-long-run to Friday – where the forecast was 78 degrees at 5am.
I actually found myself excited about my run, last night, which made it difficult to fall asleep. So, when my alarm went off a few minutes after 4am, I was definitely displeased. But I got up, had my standard glass of iced coffee and headed out before the sun came up.
I was floored! I started out super strong – pulling just under 10 minute miles for the first 6+ miles. The hazard of neighborhood long runs are stoplights – every mile, if not every ½ mile from time to time. Because my pace was good and I was feeling better than ever, I was annoyed with each red light and found myself hoping for no cars so I could simply cross at my leisure.
By mile 7 the sun was up and I was careful to choose the side of the street where I would enjoy the most shade – not to mention I planned a route south for 4 miles and then again north for 4 miles, so there were very few miles east and west, making the sun less of an issue. I did rest at mile 8.5 for 90 seconds (walking/watering), but was really fine until mile 10.3 when I was thinking the run needed to be over. As I crossed Priest to head back over the I10 – a jerk in a white, Ford Taurus thought his right on red would trump my legal crossing. Naturally, I allowed my outside-voice and flailing gestures speak volumes and the guy flipped me off. Fortunately, it gave me the venom to finish strong – pulling just over a 10 minute pace for the last 7/10’s of a mile. I felt great all the way up the overpass and literally skipped/jumped as I approached the last 1/10th of a mile. One guy in a truck honked when he saw my glee!
11 miles completed in 1:57. Again, nowhere near my best time – but I am simply resigned that summer runs will be slower than those in 40 and 50 degree temps! I am feeling a LOT better, this week, about my marathon training. Let’s see what next week holds – keep your fingers crossed for another cooler morning!
As an aside, I got a Facebook message from a student I know from one of our District-Wide leadership retreats shortly after my run. “Today when you went running and you were held up by the freeway, the little red car that let you pass that you said thank you to…THAT WAS ME! Lol”. This is a shout-out to Tina – I need a LOT more drivers like her on my runs!
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