“Long run”
Yesterday I ran my first “long run” of the training. This marked the first time I’ve ever run in Golden Gate Park, the first time I’ve run more than four miles (accident!), the second time I’ve hit the four mile mark at all, the maybe third time I’ve ever run outside in San Francisco and the first time I’ve been late to brunch as a result of exercise. Progress, people.
It started out a little rough; Peattie and I had a hard time getting out the door, hadn’t set an alarm, needed snacks, etc. By the time we got to the base of the Panhandle and parked the car, I was totally freaking out, both about being late to the aforementioned brunch and about my insane attempt to become some sort of runner person. Luckily, Peattie is sort of a zen runner type and told me I needed to stop thinking about those things and just focus on the run. (It was like when Mel Gibson comes up with that sweet ad campaign for Nike in “What Women Want.”) And then, he just started running (at like twice my speed, I might add), so I had no choice but to follow his example and stop spazzing.
It was really quite nice. The park was alternately sunny and cool, a nice mix of shade and not-shade. It is most certainly nicer to run there than on a treadmill. There were also lots of other runners of varied abilities, which we good for my ego (such as it is; also, when I reported this fact to Peattie, he said “don’t think about other people! Just think about you and the run.” Which is more Mel Gibson for you). Also, I had a decent sense of the route I wanted/needed to take to hit the four mile mark, but because I don’t know the ins and outs of the park very well, I ended up getting slightly lost and had to turn around once or twice and/or take strange turns, which in the end meant that I ran more than four miles, rather than less, which I think is a good thing.
I definitely had a point in the middle where I thought it was going to be a little too much distance and I could feel myself slowing down, but that was roughly at the midpoint (right around when I saw the signs pointing to Stow Lake) and I did keep going. The last mile I definitely hit a stride, and it didn’t even feel that bad when it was over. In fact, I felt pretty good and totally ready to run five miles next weekend. I do, however, get the feeling I’m not going as fast as I could. For the last half of the panhandle I kicked my feet up a little more and took longer strides, and I was like, this feels more like running and less like jogging. And it felt somewhat doable, because I wasn’t running faster so much as running smarter. So I think in my intervals this week and in my shorter runs, I’ll practice doing that a bit more.
Summary:
- 4.49 miles (route)
- 46:42 minutes
- ~5.77 mph
