A brilliant run

This morning I went out for a long run in preparation for the half marathon Sept 16. The end result was quite good in my opinion. I intended 9 miles and I did 9 miles. That is great in my mind. Recently I have been out trying to do long runs but have ended up with not as much distance or with poor times when it was all done. I had intended to average about 14:00 miles over 9 miles. Not too lofty, but with my plantar pull and a hamstring pull to contend with, I was looking for steady eddie not Carl Lewis.

Mile 1: 14:12
Mile 2: 13:42
Mile 3: 13:55
Mile 4: 14:01
Mile 5: 13:47
Mile 6: 14:10
Mile 7: 14:01
Mile 8: 14:07
Mile 9: 13:47

I know it doesn't look like much but I averaged just under 14:00 a mile which is exactly what I set out to do. I am not looking at setting any land speed records only to get through 13.1 miles in one piece. I will gladly accept blisters and exhaustion as part and parcel of the process. At the end of the run I still had a few more miles in me which was nice. So I think I will be able to get through this half marathon. Which is a nice feeling. I did have to push myself to keep the pace in the troublesome 5, 6, and 7 mile marks. It seems my body wants to slow down after I hit 5 miles. I think I have conditioned this response. But as long as I keep watch on my performance is should not be much of a problem. My only concern is slowing down my neighbor Jack on the run.

Cross training Notes
Today was my belt test as well. I went from 9 miles on the roads to the belt test not a swift move on my part. However, I did pass so that was nice. It seems that I am making progress on this front as well. I just have to keep at it. The thing about working on it every day is that you can never say I will do it tomorrow. That excuse just evaporates.

Up next.... Sunday 5 miles