Week 8 Long Run on Friday -- 13 miles

Mapped out a route for my long run. A new one up Greggsville to Telegraph Springs, cutting across on Hughesville and eventually winding around to Shelburne Glebe and North Fork. I always enjoy a new route that I haven't run before and one that I'm unfamiliar with even driving. It keeps me interested and I have no basis to anticipate how much farther I need to run -- except for the distance measurement on the Polar and I try not to look at that too often. I was actually more interested in watching the altitude changes. And when I downloaded the run and viewed the altitudes on the computer the route profile was a continual series of ups and downs. No wonder it was tough, although there was one hill that just went on and on and on! Felt like a mountain. Surprisingly, even though the temps were in the low to mid 50s there were still some icy patches on some of the dirt roads requiring care in navigating. There was a lot more mud than ice. The sky was blue when I started out running around 12:30 PM and clouded up some by the time I finished. It felt like a spring day -- what weird weather. Only two days ago we had a major ice storm that shut down the schools and turned the roads treacherous. Tried a Clif Shot Mango gel -- yuk -- won't be trying one of these again. 100 calories: 0 fat/40 mg sodium/30 mg potassium/25 g carbs. Similar nutrient profile to the Hammer Gel but nowhere near the taste. I was definitely hurting by the time I finished the run, glad to be done. Ran a 12:42 pace even with the hill profile. Added in a number of 2 minute run/1 minute walk intervals (a la Galloway for a 12 minute pace) during the last hour of the run and this seemed to help significantly. And even with the walking my pace improved over last week's long run. Did 15 minutes of stretching on arrival home, Smart Ones pasta meal, nice long shower and off to meet Joe at Paula's. Not sure where we're going out to eat but I'm sure I'll have an appetite.