New Territory

This morning I completed my longest run to date. I logged 17 miles in 2:37:34, about 9:16 pace. Max heart rate: 188 Average HR:166 Low HR:111

I started out doing my 7 mile loop twice and then threw in a 3 mile lap. About an hour before the run, I had some hot oatmeal and a half a liter of water. Then fifteen minutes before I had a Cliff Shot. On the run I had a fuel belt with 20oz of Powerade and some gummi bears.

I know I always start out too quick so I held myself back. Well, I tried to. Went out at 9:00 even. I guess thats better than going out in 7:00. The first few miles went well. I made sure I didn't speed up and tried to conserve energy. The first 7.1 miles came to and end in 1:07:21 (9:29 pace). I had about 10 oz of the Powerade at this point.

The next four miles felt great. I actually ran 9:00 for those four. Then I pulled back a little bit. Around mile 12 I had some more Powerade and a handful of gummi bears. The rest of that 7 mile loop felt really good. I finished 14.1 in 2:11:19 (9:19 pace). I took a mini break around 15 miles to finish off the powerade and gummi bears. After I began to run again, I felt a little sluggish. Seeing as I was running a little faster than I wanted to, I slowed it down for a mile. The last mile I picked the pace back up, probably somewhere around 8:50. I felt really good coming down the homestretch so I picked it up to around 5k pace.

Overall, I am very happy with my longest run. I felt great most of the time and finished with an average pace faster than I was hoping for. The weather was much nicer than the snow earlier this week. The sky was clear and it was around 35 when I started. At the end, still a clear sky but mid to upper 40's. Hopefully the weather will stay this way for a bit. Tomorrow is a rest day :)