Monday, 2/10: 11 miles in 1:36:59 or 8:49/mi (PMP + 45). FIRST week 4 long run.
It was bitterly cold (5 degrees, with -12 windchill) outside today, so the long run was another indoor treadmill affair. I want to just pause a moment to note that 11 miles, each one less than 9 minutes, is something I am proud of. For most of the last twenty years, I couldn't go that pace for 1 mile. :)
It truly wasn't a problem, cardiovascularly, to go at this pace. And at this point in my training, it shouldn't be. This is why the long runs, along with the tempo and pacing runs are not swappable like I claimed, in yesterday's post, that speed intervals are. These long runs are about muscle recruitment, punishing your joints and soft tissues so that they get tougher, and of course inuring oneself to the mental challenge of pressing on through periods of physical hardship of one sort or another. So how did today's run stack up in those terms? check, check, and check.
