Long Run

One of the things I love about living in Riverside is that everything is so close. Everything I use is less than two and a half miles away. However, what I love about Riverside as a resident I hate about Riverside as a runner. I ran long yesterday, and I didn’t really map out a course. I headed southwest – into the wind – and kind of followed my nose. I planned on checking my mileage at a landmark not yet determined, and if I was a little short I would make it up with a lap or two around Boone Park. I wanted to get a minimum of seven miles in so I was just cruising. Yesterday was more about miles than time. As I was coming up on the big Publix on Roosevelt Boulevard, I checked my watch – 2.4 miles, WTF? I could have sworn it was a minimum of four miles from my house, three and change accounting for running short cuts. I was feeling great when I thought I was half way done. I felt like crap when I realized I wasn’t even a third of the way done. So I lapped Roosevelt Mall, and the smell of Chick-fil-A almost ended the run in a torrent of vomit. My heart rate needs to be under 140 for peanut oil to smell good. It was about 78 degrees outside so the weather wasn’t helping either. The mall ate up a good bit of distance but I was still going to have to make two laps around Boone Park. Why do I always feel the worst when I’m as far as possible from home? The wind was gusting in my face the entire way out, and as usual, died down on the way back. My legs started hurting after mile five, but I was fine cardiovascularly. Strengthening my legs is no problem at all. My watch beeped at mile six and I pushed myself. Mile seven was my second fastest mile, after mile two. The only bad thing is that I miscalculated and finished the run at 6.97 miles, but I’m counting the 160 feet my watch says I didn’t run as computer error. This was the second great workout in a row, and I’m looking forward to a short three mile recovery run tomorrow. I may even do some weights.