Distance: 15.5 miles
Time: 2:21 minutes
Pace: 9:18/mi
Comments: My first long run here in Arizona and my longest of training to date. It was tough as I expected but I was as prepared as I could be for the thing.
I waited a bit to head out because I wanted to be a bit more warmed up for the thing. I stretched pretty well beforehand, concentrating on the left leg.I started very slow and just built up to a regular pace that could get me through it.
I had a route along the canals here planned but it turns out you can't follow the ones I chose. So I kept to as regular a path as I could and aimed to bring it in at about two-and-a-half hours - which I figured would put me close to my goal of 16 miles.
And it did.It turned out I made it almost all the way to Arizona Mills mall.
I carried a half-liter of Gatorade made a bit thinner than usual as well as two Honey Stinger ginsing gel packs. They gave me what I needed but my stomach felt a bit upset toward the end of the thing.
Overall it was a good run but it took a lot out of me. Finishing it was an act of will and it is intimidating to think I need to add an hour more of running on to this amount.
But that's down the road. The rest of the day is to relax
Conditions
Hour: 8 a.m.
Surface: concrete/asphalt/dirt
Weather: sunny
Temperature: 55 to 73 degrees
Humidity: 47 to 20 percent
Wind: calm
Location: Chandler/Tempe, Arizona
Injury update: The usual aches and pains of a long run. The quads were not happy and my calves were joining the protest. But that's par for the course. The bigger concern is the fit of the new shoes.
The good news, no blisters. The pinkie toe problem was nowhere to be found and the ball of the right foot didn't seem to be any worse after this effort.
The bad news, the toenail of my middle toe on the left got pulled back somehow and bled a bit. Hopefully, trimming the nails will handle it.