Mallard Creek Long Run

Time: 107:35
Distance: 15.40 miles
Pace: 6:59
Map

I was out the door and up to the University area of Charlotte for a long run with a few other fellow Charlotte Running Club members. Billy Shue was playing host at the Mallard Creek Greenway. Others in attendance included Mike Beigay, Ben and Megan Hovis, Caitlin, Jay Holder and Michelle. When the run started, of course, I was several strides off the back even at the 8:00 minute clip the group was holding. About 600m the group turned around and returned to the parking lot because they had forgotten Justin Breland. Leave no man behind.

I had to play catch up early on after a quick pit stop which is why my second split was so fast. It was my first time exploring Mallard Creek and I conclude that it would be a great spot for marathon workouts. The bike path is well shaded, flat and provides enough distance to get in a proper run. The pace for most of the run was quite pedestrian. No one was complaining about it because it was hot and sticky out and most of us were tired from the 4 Miler the previous day. However, I had a hard time finding the right stride. The pace wasn't slow enough to have the "800 meter shuffle" (you know what I'm talking about if you've ever watched 800m runners on a long run. They have beautiful strides in workouts and crap strides during longer distances), but it wasn't fast enough to feel smooth. I was sort of bounding and wasting a lot of energy to slow down.

The pace started to pick up at the turn around and most of use became a bit more fluid. Since it was hot out I needed to get this run over with and so I started to pick up the pace. Billy came with me initially when the splits started seeing sub-7:00. I ultimately dropped him with a 6:27 split around mile 11. The final few miles all saw sub-6:00 because I was trying to get my total average down to 7:00 which I barely accomplished.

Splits:
8:07, 6:42, 7:54, 7:54, 7:55, 7:50, 7:28, 7:16,
6:58, 6:50, 6:27, 5:55, 5:59, 5:58, 5:45

I'm not sure how often I will make it up to Mallard Creek, but it will definitely be a consideration when I get back into marathon training.