Thursday, March 17, 2011

Almost end of the week Long run

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!  I am not Irish but Brian and we both can't wait to have some corned beef and cabbage!

This morning I had a great run!  I was nervous about it though and didn't sleep the best.  My schedule called for 8 miles.  My longest morning run EVER!

1 mi at easy
2x 3mi at half marathon pace
1 mi at easy


I headed out just after 5am, into the darkness and brought my garmin along!  I was going to do a 4 mile out and 4 mile back route just to keep things simple.



The first mile was half downhill and I just kept things easy until it was time to start the tempo portion.  I wondered how my legs would handle the pace as I had only been up for about 20 minutes and I didn't eat anything before this run.

The first and second miles ticked by quickly with just my footfalls echoing in the dark.  An occasional car would pass me but otherwise I was alone.  The final mile was tough because I could see my end point but it was sooo far away!  I finally made it to the turnaround and took a 30 second break before starting out again.

I don't know if the "out" part was just harder than the "back" part but I ended up running  a little faster on the way back.  Maybe my legs had finally woken up.  The final mile was the hardest - my legs were hurting and I slowed down a bit, but I made it and did the final mile super easy back to my house.

Mile 1: 8:59
Miles 2-4: 24:00 (8:00 pace)
Miles 5-7: 23:51 (7:57 pace)
Mile 8 - 9:52

8 miles done on a Thursday morning.  I still can't believe I did it.  And I have the rest of the day to relax and recover from the run!  I thought about wearing my high heel boots today but never got around to changing into them because my flats were just so comfy.


And in honor of St. Patrick's Day I picked up these cute green Zensah compression sleeves to help my legs recover!  I am not totally sure how I feel about them - I think I may like my compression socks better!


Happy Thursday!!

24 comments:

Tim Wilson said...

Nice job getting out in the morning - and nice pace!

Anonymous said...

man, i should have worn my green compression socks to work today. dumb thinking on my part to not!

awesome am run. not only was it a long run but it was an intense run. i can never motivate myself to do intense workouts so early!

teacherwoman said...

Nice job on your long early morning run! I don't know how I feel about out and back runs, especially longer ones because I start to fixate on how far I have gone or how far I have left! you did great!

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your rocking run! Loving the green zensah sleeves. I really need to invest in a pair of those! Happy St. Patty's and enjoy your fun night!

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your rocking run! Loving the green zensah sleeves. I really need to invest in a pair of those! Happy St. Patty's and enjoy your fun night!

Audrey said...

LOVE your boots!! those are adorable. great job on the morning 8! you are seriously an inspiration...i can never drag myself out of bed that early especially not to do a workout! it's gonna pay off come race time though :)

Fruit Fly said...

What a great run!!

I like Zensah - for the cuteness and color. But I don't feel like they are tight enough, so I usually go with something else, which is a shame. I mean look at the rainbow of colors they offer!

Unknown said...

Good job on your run! I like your Danskos BTW ;)

Lisa from Lisa's Yarns said...

Nice work on the am 8 miler! I usually ran around 8 miles on wed mornings this summer when I was training for the marathon. I never was able to eat before the run but I always felt just fine and really enjoyed those early morning miles.

Enjoy the corned beef & cabbage!

Angie said...

Great run!!! Very consistent pace, well done! Love the green socks, very festive and fun :)

Christine said...

What a great work out and that at 5am - amazing!!!

Katie A. said...

Just getting all caught up!
Nice job on the run chcia!!! And all before work - those are the best day! I JUST bought me some of the zensah compression sleeves, but I love them! Only because I can wear my good running socks still, give them a shot!
Congrats on the PR lady! That is a great time! You're hard work is paying off! Can't wait to see you cross the finish line of that half!!!
Happy Thursday and have a great rest of the week!

Janice {Run Far} said...

Super cute boots.....

Thomas Farrell said...

Congrats on the 8 miler morning run. Don't think I could get up and run that early in the morning. Great pace too.

Anonymous said...

green compression socks! how perfect for St. Patty's Day. Nice running - I love getting them done early and feeling great for the rest of the day!

Marlene said...

Congrats on the big morning run! Lots of mileage AND some quality work. Well done!!

Anonymous said...

looove the green compression leg sleeves. awesome!

d.a.r. said...

That's a fantastic run!!

Molly said...

I've been curious about the sleeves, I love my socks because it covers everything. 8 miles in the a.m. is great, once again I admire your morning run dedication! : )

Nicole said...

Great run lady!

Chelsea said...

Way to go on the run. It can be sooo hard to get up in the dark and get your body moving fast. But it is nice to have the whole rest of the day knowing what you've already accomplished.

Anonymous said...

Ooooooh..sleeves! I don't have any of those? Why do you like the compression socks better?

Amy said...

Nice job on the early morning long run! Like those boots!

kaydi327 said...

Ohhh I love your boots! Way to get eight miles done bright and early- that is seriously inspirational!
Katie @ Legally Fit