Best. Practice. Long. Run. Ever.

I was going to title this weeks entry "Best Long Run Ever" but let's face facts - the worst race is usually going to be better than the best practice run, right? After all, isn't that why run - to compete in races? Yeah, OK, I know health benefits, feeling of accomplishment, blah, blah blah... but in the end it's all about crossing that finish line having done something that few have done and getting that medal.

So, that said, today was an awesome long run, and here's why.

First, the details, I ran 10 miles on a running and bike path not far from my house called the North County Trail. it's a beautiful paved trail that runs through most of Westchester County in New York.

To begin with, it was a gorgeous day on the trail. The trees are finally full and green after being bare all winter and the brook that runs along parts of the trail has gurgling happily. The temperature was in the upper fifties and the sun was out. An absolutely perfect morning for a run. I actually took a couple of pictures but unfortunately they did not turn out.

Also, as I had mentioned in my last post I have been working on pacing myself better. I did really well with this run. If you look at my splits you will see that my times were pretty consistent, and also that they were right within the 11 1/2 minute mile goal I have set for myself for my next race (The Liberty Run in NJ).

I felt strong through nearly all of the 10 miles. The only issue I had at all was the last mile as you can see. There was actually a good reason for this. Most of mile 7 and 8 were uphill the whole way. I pushed myself through these 2 miles, and also did pretty well for mile 9 which was mostly  flat but for mile 10 I was loosing steam even though it was mostly downhill. That said, I'm sure I could have re-grouped had I needed to go farther, but as it was I was just a little weak for that mile. All in all I was very happy with the run, which I completed in under 2 hours (a PR for 10 miles for me).

One of the thing I attribute my improvement to is that I am learning more about running and paying attention to the advice of more experienced runners. In particular, about 2 weeks ago I discovered the Mickey Miles Podcast. Among the topics discussed have been fueling and hydration, and I found their advice to be very helpful. The focus of the podcast is on running Disney races but the advice is pretty universal. Worth a listen.

That's it for this week - next week I'll be doing time trials in Maine as I go to pick up my daughter at college.