Tag: running

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6 miles, baby! This was the farthest I’ve ever run… and it was amazing.

Aaron and I ran along the Burke-Gilman Trail to Wallingford (nearly to my old apartment/the I-5 overpass) and back on a pleasant, partly sunny Saturday afternoon. We kept a comfortable, steady pace (10:29 average) — easy enough to chat, per Hal Higdon’s instructions — and we ran the entire time.

Just to recap: a) this was the farthest I’ve ever run; b) this was the first time that I’ve run for more than an hour; and c) we ran the entire time.

My legs felt a bit wobbly afterward, but the run felt amazingly good. Outdoor runs are far superior to treadmill runs for so many reasons, including fresh air, interesting scenery, cool breezes and a sense of going somewhere. I’ll look forward to these Saturday runs, even though they’ll be long — 7 miles for the next two Saturdays.

Not that the distance is a bad thing. I felt like I could have run 10 miles… or more. Conquering a new distance makes the 15K, half-marathon and marathon seem less intimidating.

I ran 20.5 miles this past week, including 10 miles in two days (Friday and Saturday). This is nuts. For the first time, I feel like a runner.

And it feels awesome.

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4 miles on a Friday night

by devonpassLeave a Comment on 4 miles on a Friday night

Guess what? Not a lot of people go to the gym on Friday night! It was the emptiest I’d ever seen it. Probably because, you know, people have social lives and stuff. So I hear.

4 miles on the treadmill in 39:54 (9:58 pace). I got SO HOT while running because the gym doesn’t have air conditioning, just fans, and I get overheated and red/purple-faced very easily. It’s extremely attractive.

I had to stop a few times just to cool down and drink some water, which was frustrating because endurance-wise, I felt fine. Since there weren’t many people around, I was also able to move a fan so that it pointed directly at me, and that helped a lot for the rest of the run.

Hal Higdon said to do this run “fast,” but I just went the fastest I could. It was still faster than my last “easy” run (10:37 pace), so I think it counts. Yup.

6 miles to do today. This will be the farthest I’ve EVER run. Whoa.

I may or may not have just finished crying a bit after reading a first-marathon story. I tear up every time I read one of these. Las Vegas 2011, baby.