The alarm clock went off this morning about 15 minutes before my feet finally hit the floor. My bed is so warm and these mornings are cold lately. 39.2 degrees today when I headed out for my long run. Although the schedule calls for only 6 miles, as it is step-back week, the overall premise on running long and easy still holds.
I met Cindy at a nearby park and we headed out for 3 out and back. We started out slow; she fumbled with her HR monitor, and then we settled into a comfortable pace. My legs felt heavy from yesterday’s “faster than MY marathon race pace” run. Cindy admitted having done mile repeats on the treadmill late yesterday too.
The GPS never quite gives what I expect the distance should be on this particular trail. It doesn’t matter that much today anyways; we’re just running for distance. As long as we run until the GPS shows 6 miles, I’ll have the reassurance that I at least ran 6 miles and possibly more. Cindy has to explain to her Father that I am obsessive about getting the required distance in as we run past him to get the final 0.03 miles accounted for.
Next weekend, I’ll run 11 miles for my long run. The following weekend I’ll replace my 12 mile Long Run with a half-marathon and shorten my Saturday run by 1 mile to keep the mileage the same. I’m glad to have a race coming up; my excitement for the marathon is already building inside of me. It’s weird, but I am feeling the pre-race adrenaline already. I can hear the redwood trees cheering me on from here, “Go Julie!”