Really nice day today in Asheville! It has been a pretty tough few weeks with snow and chilly temps. Up in the 40's today was perfect for a long run. Made sure I had plenty of rest and good nutrition this week after not doing such a good job of that last Sunday. Left the house about noon and headed around Montford and then down to Riverside drive. North on Riverside where the traffic was busy but only had to do about 3 miles north there before heading up Elk Mountain rd toward Beaver lake. Some pretty good climbing up elk, but then it leveled out and I took a right to the lake. The track around the lake was a muddy mess, but I soon left that behind and headed up Kimberly then up to Charlotte St.
It dawned on me that my plan to run miles 12 to 15 on the track at UNCA at my marathon pace was not going to work out as the track was probably covered in snow still, so I headed to the YMCA where I hopped on the treadmill and got it done there. It was really hot in there, and I was working pretty hard to stay relaxed and not overheat. My heart rate got up a little high(179) before I was able to get back outside and cool off. It took a mile or so to get back in a groove after that. The pace on the treadmill felt fine, but the heat was a killer. Looking forward to the track becoming an option again.
I toured downtown for a couple of miles after eating a GU energy gel, and started to head back home. This was my longest run in quite a while and the first where I added some marathon pace miles, and I think it was a success. After returning home I took a very hot shower and a nap. Totals for the run are 17.4 miles in 2 hrs 10 minutes(7:28 pace) with 3 miles on the treadmill @ 6:44 pace.
Taking it a little easier this week on the running to get ready for the Hot Chocolate 10k this weekend. First race of 2011! Plenty of swimming and biking though... Thanks for reading!
Teddy
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