Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Not Easy

It was one of those runs that put a bit of fear into this runner's heart: '9 miles with 4 at 1/2 marathon pace' said the log. Yuck, where was the 2 or 3 mile workup to this in the previous weeks? Oh well, out the door a bit late today around 9am after our visitors got packed and were on their way to the Island. It was a nice sunny morning with no fog, just some hazy humidity coming up from the south, 20C/68F which felt hot to me.

After a 1 mile warmup and some stretching I was off a little fast with the 1st mile in 6:59. The next miles with some significant hills came in a 7:11 and 7:13 before finishing the effort off with a 7:03 last mile. This was definitely not an easy run and the right ham started complaining after the 1st mile but then seemed to go away if I adjusted/shortened my stride slightly. The run ended as a very slow and long 4.5 mile slog with occasional stop for pictures (see above)

The dip in the cool pond at the end of the run was very refreshing and gave me an opportunity to take a few close ups of the lilies. I'm off to Bathurst in the morning to do some family business but plan to continue to get the runs in. Hopefully I can even make it to the beach for a long run followed by a cool dip or two. Have a good week!

7/8/08
Training: 9.5 miles (8:18 pace) with 4 miles in 28:26 ~1/2 marathon pace 7/10
Health: right ham still sore but was able to run through it 6/10
Stretching: none; time for only some icing last night

4 comments:

Garry said...

That was a nice effort! And the pictures were great as usual. Enjoy your trip to Bathurst.

Andrew said...

Those were some smokin' miles Mike. Don't you hate the miles that follow? Slog is the only word for it. Almost makes you want to run most of the 9 miler first before the hard part.

UMaine Cooperative Extension said...

I agree with Andrew; inpressive miles.

By the way, watch out for sharks in that pond of yours.

Dubs said...

followed by a cool dip or two

****

That sounds so nice!!
Very quick pace!! Fantastic job!!