The Long Training Run.

Some workouts are physically more challenging, but the long run is the granddaddy of bastards as far as I’m concerned. Doing a long run alone is mentally exhausting. I lie to myself constantly during the run: “I’ll stop in 30 minutes. I’ll quit after 10 miles. I’ll quit when I get to the bridge. I’ll rest in a minute.” But I keep going.

Yesterday’s long run was no different. It was the third or fourth longest run I’ve ever done alone, at 13 miles. And easily the fastest 11+ mile solo run. I turned in 13 miles in 2:04:25, not counting a pause to pull my jacket off. That works out to 9:34 min/mile. I’m happy with that for a long run, but it also means that I’m probably not in personal-record shape for two weeks from now.

Which is fine. I don’t need to PR and I am not sure how I feel about the idea of having a PR different from BB’s. But I also know she wants me to go out and do my best. So I’ll just go run and see what happens. Hopefully the weather stays cool and I’ll be in good shape. Today I feel beat. Quads and hip flexors are sore. And I chafed a bit in my butt.

I’m hopeful I’ll get another good run in this week. We got 6-8 inches of slush and freezing rain. And it’s going to be cold and I expect to see the slush solidify into razor-sharp peaks of death and mayhem. But we’ll see! I’ll put on the trail shoes and see what I can do tomorrow.