Looooooong Draining (in a good way) Run

I have really been looking forward to this day believe it or not. Long Run Day! I have had the most stressful week, starting last Tuesday, my first day of classes. I have had intensive classes, clinicals, studying and then I was volunteered all weekend. Yes, you read that right, I was volunteered, I did not voluntarily volunteer to burn my whole weekend away. All of our nursing classes were signed up to work at a health fair, and while it was interesting, it was overkill and it was exhausting! I did get Friday off, which was my long run last week. At this point, I needed my long run. I just needed to pour out all of the week's stresses and empty my brain.

Style/Workout: 75 minute long run (I shortened it by 5 minutes)
Setting/Route: A sunny tour of the city of Seaside
Mileage: 7.81 miles
Progress: (running mileage): 7.81 today/41.56 this month/ 41.56 year-to-date

I <3 Nike + GPS

Let's see if I can give a run-down on the run today...the first mile I really wanted to fly. My legs felt light and fast and I ended up pulling an 8:55. So it was tough to pace myself and took a mile or two to find a cadence and breathing rhythm. I am so glad I did though, I would have really hit a wall early on. The following miles varied +/- 15-45 seconds. I did end the last mile with a negative split so that's good.  

Since it was a long run, I reversed my typical route and took a few side streets and such that were new to me. The roads were still icy in places even though I waited a while after the sun rose to see if they would melt. My legs felt good, my left ankle started to ache toward the end, but it feels pretty good now. Otherwise, I just had a few air bubbles that showed up in my GI system around miles 5-6 but they weren't side aches so I'm happy.


I have not really been happy with my app. It is so bland and boring. It doesn't give me hardly any feedback or personal information about each run. So today I sidestepped it. I opened up what my workout was for today, then used that info and plugged it into my Nike + GPS app and used that instead. I'm so glad I did. I love the little personal touches the Nike + GPS app has...from the mapping of my route and my pace splits (including whether they were negative or positive) to the weather and my own judgements about how it all felt. Then there is always the big-name athletes who cheer you on...you can't beat that! Sonja Richards Ross thought I did awesome today :)

Gives me route, pacing, mileage, weather (with a sunshine), and the time my run began.

The last thing I will admit is that this run rocked my body. I feel like I ran a half marathon today I am so exhausted! The good thing is that I have a few hours that I can just rest and I'm planning on taking a much-needed nap as soon as I press Publish for this Post