Long, Slow Run

Yesterday was Victoria Day in Canada. This is a federal holiday and so my husband golfed was home (but he played 9 in the morning). It was an odd day with on and off rain, thunder, sun and wind but after the baby went for his afternoon nap, I risked the weather and set out to run my first LSD run since the half marathon, settling on a 10k loop through town.

This was the first time I had run more than 9k on my own so I was excited to get out there to see if I could finally pace myself to an actual slow pace and keep myself company for the 70 or so minutes.

I started off good, deciding to hit the hard part on gravel first and was quickly through the first two kilometers. I was enjoying my music, the scenery and the cool breeze. My only problem was that I was checking my Garmin all the time just to ensure that my pace wasn't creeping above 6:50/km. Before I knew it, I was on Main street (I really did run through town) and at 5k. At that time I started reflecting on how short 10k now seems. I can't believe that back in January, I was dying at the end of 7k thinking it was such a long distance. Again, I was grateful that I had signed up for the program with the Running Room as those 16 weeks taught me so much.

While I was running kms 6-8 the sun came out in full force and it was HOT. I was thankful that I opted for my shorts and tank and that I had remembered a hat and sunscreen. Ideally, my goal is to get out for LSD runs on Sunday mornings and keep up the schedule that I had with the RR, but from home. This weekend being a holiday is what shifted my schedule a bit.

I finished strong (if a bit fast) and am looking forward to building a schedule to focus on speed for the 5 and 10k PBs I want to hit this year and building distance so that I can tackle the 30k Midsummer Night's Run in August.

10k, 1:07:16, 0:06:42 average pace per KM.