12 mile break down

I did my last long run on Monday. As if a 12 miler isn't long enough, the weather made it feel longer. I started at 8:10 pm, so at least the sun was behind buildings and I didn't have to roast, but it was still 31C. I ran slower, as planned, in the heat and I drank a lot more than usual. I was done my bottle by mile 7 and used the city water fountains along the river to refill. I stopped three times to soak my head, the last time I did a full head-dunk into the Bert Weeks Memorial Fountain. That was really nice. I only lost one pound on this run.

I ran well enough for the first four miles, done in 34:36. The next four were hard. I was going into the wind and the heat was getting to me, finished those in 37:50. The last four miles were hard to run because my legs were feeling pretty tired, having already put in ten miles on the bike getting to and from work. But with the sun now completely gone and the temp dropping, I got through them in 34:36. The last four miles were exactly the same speed as the first four miles. Weird. Total time was 1:47:16 @ 8.56/mile.

My schedule has me taking it easy this and next week (which is good,because I'll be on vacation) short runs of 3, 4, 6 & 2 miles before the1/2 Marathon Sunday July 30th.