Bloody Hell

Time: 103:43
Distance: 16:49
Pace: 6:17
Splits: 7:18, 6:30, 6:31, 6:20, 6:16, 6:10, 6:05, 5:59, 6:03, 6:17, 6:07, 6:19, 6:13, 6:08, 6:07, 5:55, 3:27 (for .49 miles at 7:06 pace)
Map

Woof. This morning's run was a good indicator of my fitness but brutal at the same time. I set out to run Bobcat loop this morning so that I wouldn't have to worry about finding extra minutes/miles in town. The wind out of the north was hovering around 15 miles/hour when I started and seemed to shift a bit to the west during the run. Running out Post Oak Rd. provided me with a bit of wind at my back which got the pace clipping along. I was surprised to look down and see some low 6-minute splits in the hills.

I made the turn north and was protected a bit by the woods on 60th which made things bearable. By the time I hit Lindsey the wheels were starting to fall off. I didn't have water, the fitness is low, the wind was high and the hills were long and gradual. There were many factors into why I wasn't feeling so hot near miles 10, 11 and 12. I pushed on hoping that the legs and lungs would adjust to the increased output. As I approached 24th I could tell the wind was a bit stronger but the hills were gone. Mr. Garmin was telling me that the pace was dropping but the effort certainly wasn't. I was in a weird zone where I could see the pace was respectable, the effort was high, but it felt like I was running 7:15s based on how fast I seemed to be moving.

The last few miles were hard based on effort but at least I was rewarded with some solid splits. I pushed the last full mile with the intention of running sub-6. Not that impressive on a normal day but considering I did it into what was now a 20 mph breeze, I'll take it. The schedule had 16 miles on it and I sorta pulled a Julie Komo/Mikie Mo when I hit the distance. I was done running into the wind at 6 minute pace and decided to just finish back to the apartment nice and easy. My hip flexors were quite tight at the end of the run. Overall, I'm pleased with my first long run in about a month.