A Friday long run

Flew into DC this morning with barely 5 hours sleep, but the weather is unbelievable, a few days before spring. It's a high of 23C so I figured that since R. is off, I'd tackle my long run today.

Today was one of those long runs that you knew you wanted to hurt. Even within a kilometre, I was pushing faster than 'long slow distance'.

Sometimes, you just don't listen to the body, you force it to wake up, to work a little harder, to remember what distance running feels like when you push yourself.

I did a whole bunch of out-and-backs along DC's running paths: To the zoo and back, on the towpath for a few miles, then out to Hains Point. Wish I could download the map, but it's a scenic, mostly flat route that lets your run pretty much uninterrupted for miles on end.

It was hot. I had two fuel belt bottles that I had filled up with Gatorade, then retopped at a water fountain. All the fuel I had was that, along with one gel that I took after 13 miles.

So the last 7 miles were a wee bit challenging, but I pushed it, finishing the run steps away from R's apartment (how do I measure my runs so well, I wonder -- 20 miles of running only to end up a block away from where you started).

Now the eye-popping part. I averaged just over 5 minute kilometres. Wow, that was unintended, but I'll take it. Didn't expect to do near pace work.

Exhausted and famished, I stumbled into a Subway for lunch, and an office worker asked me how long I did. I told him and he told me his wife just did 20 today too. We talked about her doing Boston, me doing Boston and it was a little funny having running talk while I was ordering as many toppings on my footlong tuna sub.

Doesn't matter, you can pretty much eat whatever you want after burning 2300 calories.