Going the Distance

    Saturday was the first "Long" workout of my half marathon regiment.  It was a workout which was incorporated into an 18 mile long run.  The 18 miles was broken into 3 pieces:  6 easy, 6 at 6flat pace, 5 at 5:15 pace and 1 mile easy cooldown pace.   
    I began the long haul with Greenlaw in tow.  We ran 6 miles on TR island then headed back over the key bridge and onto the towpath.  I did not feel good at all on the easy miles.  I was cranky, did not feel like running, tired, etc.  I got through it though and looked ahead to hopefully feeling better and more motivated in the next segment of the run.   From there, i parted ways with jerry, and i was on to the 6flat segment of the workout.  I felt very controlled, in fact was almost having to hold back at times.  I would see the avg pace on the gps watch (which i hate wearing by the way), go down to 5:40's on several occassions.  I completed the second segment with a 5:54 average.  From there I jumped on the Capital crescent and headed back down towards the whitehurst freeway.  I cranked down immediately to 5:12-5:16 pace.  This was a ridiculous change in pace to start but i soon got into the rhythm.  Once i got down to the start of the whitehurst overpass, i turned around and went back up the capital crescent trail.  The gradual uphill i began to feel but i kept the pace right on.  with 1 mile to go, I put my head down and pushed through the final mile to hold a 5:14-5:15 average for the 3rd segment of the workout (26:13 for 5miles).  I ran the final mile to make an even 18 miles.  My breathing felt great throughout, which was a plus.  I really enjoy getting going on those longer runs.  I feel i get into that rhythm and sometimes forget i am running, which is weird.  At the same time, i like it.  18 miles with easy miles, quality miles and cooldown mile = 6:13/mile average.