Ran 18 Miles to Work

I ran 18 miles to work last Thursday. This was a new personal best for distance. Pace was 10:43 with a total time of 3hrs 13min.

It like pushing into new territory when running. Much like my previous 14 mile run, aching of the legs becomes a bit more pronounce during the last 3 or 4 miles. With longer distances, however, the pains your body experiences are new and you learn new limits.

This incremental improvement seems wise. The feeling of fresh legs at say miles 7-10 and thoughts of being ready for a marathon, quickly dull into miles 15 and on. It will interesting to see what happens at miles 20+, the distance I hear the mental battle with yourself begins to peak.

Next day recovery was not too bad. Fatigue on the bike ride the next day was more pronounced on the ride home. It may be better to do long runs on Fridays to ease recovery.

The next distance goal will be running in from Poinsettia train station. It should be about 20 miles. The Jeff Galloway program now moves to long runs every 3 weeks. The shorter runs are now 5 or 7 miles with 2 other 30 min runs through the week. I suppose this will work out in preparation for the SD Intl. Triathlon on the 28th of this month.

Ultimately, I'd like to run from home once a month or so. This is 24 miles and would optimize my body for marathon length distances. This will be good run training for a full Ironman in 2010.