Charles River Uptempo Long Run

Time: 111:14
Distance: 25.10 km

W/u: 13:43 for 2.64 km
Workout: 79:30 for 19.21 km
C/d: 17:51 for 3.25 km

Meagan and I drove into Boston (actually) Cambridge to meet up with a crew of city runners. We were meeting Emily, Jenn and a couple other members of the BAA to do 12 miles at 5:50 to 6:00 per mile. I think this was Jenn's workout and we would just be tagging along. I had few goals for the workout other than running in the group as relaxed as possible. My legs were a bit sore from that terrible mile I ran on Friday night.

I would have liked to have gotten in more of a warm up but time didn't permit. We started just after 8:00 and got the workout rolling along the Charles. I settled into the back of the group trying to do as little work as possible. I didn't want to hit the front and push the pace to ruin the workout for anyone. That would come later.

Wayne and Dan up front set the pace with Emily and Jenn tucked in behind. Meagan and I followed with Will on our shoulders. We streaked past baby joggers, bikes, guys on roller blades and countless runners. There were moments when I would find myself coming up on the shoulder of Emily but then I would consciously back off and retake my place at the back on the pack.

The loop took us out 6 miles and then turned for the trip home. Everyone was still grouped up minus Will who is just starting workouts again. Somewhere around the 7-8 mile mark I moved to the front to take a turn at the lead. There was a little bit too much talking for my liking and I decided to get the pace rolling. The group responded to my increased tempo and things just progressed from there. You can see in the splits below where I went to the front around the 11 to 12 km mark.

Splits:
3:44, 3:49, 3:49, 3:37, 3:42,
3:39, 3:45, 3:41, 3:40, 3:43,
3:45, 3:36, 3:35, 3:37, 3:31,
3:31, 3:30, 3:17, 3:15, :41

Dan who is back visiting from Florida kept it rolling until the end of the workout. He timed our final full mile in 5:13 which I initially thought was short until Emily told me it's been measured by multiple people and accurate. I'll take it.