LONG HILL RUN - 6/3/12

Course route on this fine Sunday

I have been recently increasing the length of my runs, particularly those on weekends, in order to prepare for a half marathon. The first half marathon on the schedule is through the rolling wine country and will have sizable hills, so I've been more open to hills as well (instead of avoiding them like the plague).

Luckily enough (or unluckily for lazy Thomas), my new townhome is right next to many hills, some small, others large. I can't really go out for a "flat" run like from my old apartment. This will be a good thing in the long run, even if it will make certain runs harder.

I did a variation of this long run two or three weeks back and it was definitely a challenge. I did the same route from my house to the park, then back on the exact same loop. At 8.2 miles it was a mile and a half longer than anything I had done before. Due to the hills and longer nature, I took a more relaxed pace (9:09/mi) and that left me feeling good at the end. It's always nice to end a run feeling like you could have kept going; I might feel that way more often if I wasn't always pushing myself speed wise on my weekday runs!

Anyways, this run would be a variation on that earlier run, instead of going back the same way I came though I would be looping up a bit to explore new turf and add some mileage.

The first half of the run was the same, some ups and downs and then about 8/10ths of a mile in beginning the slog up Cooper Mountain. I think the overall elevation gain is about 475 feet. This was still a huge challenge (it is pretty unrelenting, not many "flat" breaks) but I noticed it was easier than last time. Needless to say, at the top, I was still completely exhausted.

Elevation profile 

Once you recover from the hill its pretty flat to the park though, with only one mini up and down, so by the time you hit the park you are feeling pretty good (the park is about 2.5 miles in). The loop in the park is about three miles, the first half mostly downhill, the last half mostly uphill. This uphill is easier than that first hill though, not only is the gain not as much, roughly 325 feet maybe, but there are more "breaks" where it evens out and allows you to catch your breath.

By the time I hit the top of the hill I took a quick pre-planned break. Mind you, I NEVER take breaks in my runs, they are always non-stop affairs (I get pissed if I have to wait for traffic for like three seconds). However, since this run was going to be over nine miles and I don't have portable water, I needed to make sure I stayed hydrated. I was feeling great at this point even though I just climbed up the hill in the park. I took a quick pee, drank out of the water fountain, and then tried a Gu for the first time. It was surprisingly good and gave me a bit of a boost (that I really didn't need).

The break only lasted two or three minutes before I was off again. This is where the course varied from my previous run. The directions were pretty simple... head north until I hit the T, right at the T, then right at Rigert Road. I found it pretty easy. Most of this stretch had sidewalks but there were a few breaks where I had to run close to traffic on the shoulder. Nothing too bad and I felt comfortable in the daylight. Not a night route!

It was then a long slog along Rigert. I was feeling great at this point, not tired at all (wasn't going my usual "Tempo" pace but it wasn't a casual pace), and my legs felt good. It's rare when your lungs and legs both are feeling good. Literally nothing felt bad. This is as close to the runner's high I have ever been. I felt like I could run a marathon at that point. It was really an elating mile or two.

Eventually by the time I hit 155th my body seemed to know I was close to home and started to complain a little. Not too bad though, I weaved my way down Emerald street to add a little distance and make crossing Beard possible without pausing at a crosswalk. I eventually wound my way back to the house, running past it a little bit to hit 9.25 miles.

I felt great at the end. My legs were tired but my lungs felt great. I'd be a little sore the next couple days, but really not bad. A very fast 6 mile run the day after with the PRC Running Group (7:40ish a mile) was probably more of the culprit for that than this run!

Funny how your body seems to know how far you are running. If I only do a 5k, at the end of 3.1 miles it wants to be done. If I'm doing six miles, it’s fine until about mile five and then wants to be done. For this run I felt great until cutting into Emerald, at which point my body was like "okay, that's good." Maybe I am just really good at pacing myself so I run out of gas at the right time... ha!

Final run: 9.26 miles in 1:19:49, 8:37/mile

Splits:
Mile 1: 8:08 (relatively flat first mile)
Mile 2: 9:55 (slog up the hill)
Mile 3: 8:07 (flat to downhill)
Mile 4: 8:17 (downhill in park)
Mile 5: 9:45 (uphill in park)
Mile 6: 8:47 (uphill to flat)
Mile 7: 8:09 (flat)
Mile 8: 8:02 (flat... this was the "high")
Mile 9: 8:21 (body knew it was getting close to home)

.26 mi: 2:18 (8:50 extrapolated... slightly uphill)