9 mile saturday

M'Lady and I did our longest run of the year so far this past Saturday. Not only did we run 9 miles but we did an entirely new course.

Normally we do our long runs on the rivergreenway, and a couple weeks ago we did try out the new path along Bluffton Road from Foster Park down to Lower Huntington. Saturday we were going to run on the greenway, but it was seriously under water when we got down to the bridge at Lower Huntington and Fairfield. So we just went north on Fairfield... and kept going. We headed toward downtown, and had we gone to where I work it would have been almost exactly half of the 9 miles we needed; however, just south of Pontiac we turned west on Home and went over to Drew Carrie's (so someone could use the restroom). Then we kind of wound around from Foster Park and back to Fairfield and made our way back home.

The weather wasn't 'terrible,' but it wasn't the best of days to run outside. It was chilly, windy, and overcast - probably in the mid-to-upper 30's. The wind wasn't so bad in town, but it was nasty in the open spaces (like along Airport Expressway). It did finally start raining when we got into our neighborhood so we only got a little wet.

I did not wear my new shoes. I stuck with the Adidas and determined that I really do like them as running shoes. It's almost like running barefoot - there is basically no resistance in them at all. I will keep the Hoka's though and give them a try.

Oddly enough, for all the leg and foot pain I'd been having, this 9-mile run did not phase me. In fact, I felt great both during and after. I'm not sure what happened, but I am happy about that. I did soak in my mixture of Epsom salts, baking soda, apple cider vinegar, and peppermint; as well as take an ibuprofen; and I did the legs-up-a-wall for a good 10 minutes. I think the wall thing has been a big difference-maker for me. I hope to write more about that someday.

So, while we didn't set any land-speed records, we did keep a pretty good pace for a cold Saturday in March. We did our usual 10-minute-mile-ish pace... which I would be happy with for the Indy Mini coming up the first weekend in May. Jane says our current goal is to do that one in under 2 hours 15 minutes. That works for me.