Richard Gibney's 365 Days of Fitness: Day 167
Day 167 Today I finally got around to doing a long run. I wanted to see what it would feel like and how long it would take me to run a distance similar to my Kananaskis Relay leg. I didn't run my exact distance but it was close and certainly a lot farther than I have run for a very long time.
It was a perfect day for a run, sunny, 19 degrees, with a slight breeze. There were quite a few cyclists and runners out but not so many that the paths were congested. Lots of Dads out riding bikes with their kids on Father's Day. I started my run from home, where I ran from 16 ave, up 14th st to the river bank. I then ran along the bike path, past Eau Claire Market, until I got to Fort Calgary.
I continued on the bike path underneath the bridge on 9 ave that brings you into Inglewood and found myself behind the Saddledome. The path behind the dome was inundated with Canada Geese and as a result was also covered in goose poop. I did my best not step in any while I tried to avoid annoying the Geese that hissed at me as I ran by.
Once I got behind the dome I crossed a pedestrian bridge and continued on the bike path along the elbow river until I got to the entrance of the stampede grounds. At this point I was a little over 5 miles in, which is about half my K100 distance. It was encouraging that I still had plenty of gas in the tank. If I was fading I would have been really worried for next weekend.
I lost my way briefly, but found my way back on the bike path and continued on it around the talisman centre until I found my way to Elbow Drive. For a brief moment I thought about stopping in this french pastry place for a nutella crepe but I abstained and decided to make my way to the Glencoe club.
By the time I got to the Glencoe I had run exactly 7 miles (11 km) in just over an hr. Not a blistering pace but still decent. I wasn't trying to set any records but I was getting a good idea of how my run on Saturday would go.
I had forgotten my watch at work the other day, so I quickly popped into the Glencoe to pick it up, grabbed a sip of water then continued on my run back toward home. I ran back down elbow drive, turned left at 5th St and made my way to 17th ave. Home was only 11 blocks away.
I picked up the pace a bit as I made my way down 17th. As I got to my front door I looked at my Adidias MiCoach app. I had run just shy of 9 miles in 1 hr and 18 minutes. Not too bad. I'd like to run my leg next weekend in under an hr and 25 minutes. I think I'd be hard pressed to run that last mile in less than 7 minutes, but I do think overall I could run quite a bit faster and make up enough time.
Today's Workout
Run: 8.93 miles (14.4 km) / 1:18 Duration / 8:47 min per mile
All in all, I feel really good about my run. I have an idea now about how to set a pace for next weekend. Afterward, I had a great lunch and as bonus for running so far, I got in my car and went to the french pastry place and got myself that Nutella Crepe. After all, my MiCoach app said I burned over 1100 calories. Not a very accurate measure but I think I earned my crepe.