Run: 40 minutes of easy distance, hilly.
Distance: 4.3 miles
Time: 41:57
Performance Stats (out of 5 ★)
Legs: ★ ★ .5
Gut: ★ ★ ★ ★
Energy ★ ★ ★ ★
Mind: ★ ★ ★ .5
Overall: ★ ★ ★ .5
Soundtrack: Chevelle, La Gargola
During training I try to stick to the same few courses that I have picked out along the way. I end up knowing the distance, about how long each run should take me, as well as the terrain. This is all very helpful when either trying to push myself to go a little faster/farther, or if I just want to get in a nice steady pace for some known distance.
Since I've been mostly running off/on a lot lately, I wouldn't call my past few weeks "training". However, I'm getting a pounce on the whole New Year thing, and am getting back after it. Also, we have had such unseasonably warm beautiful weather of late, that I had to get in a nice distance run on the streets. So with all of this, I decided to pick out a new route.
This route is actually part of my hill course. I usually just double back down the hill as part of the hill training. But, if I keep on going there are several options for nice loops back to my start. I had (incorrectly) guesstimated the distance to be about 2 to 2.5 miles, and thought I would get in this loop, and then take my usual 3 mile loop to follow, making for a nice 5 mile run or so.
The run was good, even with my left ankle bothering me here and there. The roads were a little wet, so coming down from the hill was a little tricky with the footing, but overall not too bad. Some of the curves were a little dicy, and probably on a busy traffic day I wouldn't pick this route; but this quiet Sunday morning ended up being just fine.
As I made the last turn to the homestretch, I thought I would have a sip of water from my water bottle nicely stashed on top of the fire hydrant across the street from my house. I felt like maybe this distance wasn't quite 2 mile, so I wanted to check my GPS. Low and behold, 4.3 miles. Now certainly not any more distance than I was planning on running, but a little more than I thought from this route.
After weighing another 3 miles at this point in my run, I decided to cap it at 4.3. I can see making it out to this loop again, but not as part of my regular training. It's not quite even distance, and the downhill and traffic are just enough to keep me off. I'm glad that I got the run in, as I have always wanted to check it out. I'll probably save it for exactly the type of day that I ran it - a lazy weekend day run with some good hills built in.