This Weekend's Runs

  So I forgot to post about our 4 miler yesterday morning, Rocky and I went ahead and took Thursday and Friday off as rest days mainly due to the severe weather that started Wednesday night and didn't end until Friday morning, and then all Friday consisted of was winds between 15-25 mph so I felt it was a good excuse to take two rest days. And since I had a 15 miler planned this morning, I didn't want to run to much yesterday so we only ran 4 easy miles in 41:17 with an average pace of 10:18 min/mile. Elevation gain of 74 feet and a loss of 74 feet, temperature was 43 degrees with a feels like 40.
Laps/splits were:
Mile 1 - 11:03
Mile 2 - 10:32
Mile 3 - 9:57
Mile 4 - 9:43

    Yesterday afternoon I took Dorian for a drive to see if any of the roads on my long run routes were flooded and sure enough two important roads that are normally within the first 3 miles were flooded.

This was on my very normal route that I used during most of my runs, and it is just 2-3 miles from my house so running it was out of the question. It does get deeper the further you go out and it probably covers about 100 feet out. So I spent probably 40 minutes driving around trying to find enough dry roads that would give me at least 15 miles, luckily I found a route that would end up giving me 16 miles.

   I was up at 4:30 AM this morning, drank one cup of coffee and was out the door by 5 AM with the intent on not consuming any gels but still carrying them just in case. I have to admit I probably started out a bit faster than planned, or least faster than my usual long runs but that is okay. I wanted to get past a certain section of roads that can become very dangerous in daylight and when people begin heading to church, it always amazes me that the very people who claim to be religious and follow God's words and everything are the ones who will most likely run you over if you are out running on "their" roads. It is so sad, but such is the case in my area.
  To make this short, things went great and I didn't consume a single gel but I drink probably sip about 3-4 oz of gatorade and 3-4 oz of water, that water was tasting really good after 12 miles let me tell you.
  Between mile 11 and mile 12, I was going along minding my own business when I heard the familiar 4 steps that you know is a dog running up behind you. Luckily it was the same hound that found me a few weeks ago and I was able to lose him a few weeks ago, this time he was determined to tag along though.

This was right at mile 13, I am happy to say he was neutered so that is nice. I can't stand it when people let their unaltered dogs run loose, it really, really, REALLY gets on my nerves.









Once we got into the neighborhood and other dogs were barking, I managed to lose him and hopefully he went back home. I am sure he is used to roaming the countryside so finding his way back home shouldn't be an issue.
   Other than the temporary running buddy, everything was peaceful and nice. I really enjoyed the 16 miles I got in today, maybe I will try and make all of April's weekend long runs 16 miles.
   I ran 16 miles in 2:41:16 with an average pace of 10:05 min/mile, elevation gain of 432 feet and a loss of 439 feet. Temperature was 39 degrees and sunny, so a pretty nice day overall. I just hope I can handle these long runs in temps 75+.
Laps/splits were:
Mile 1 - 10:43
Mile 2 - 10:07
Mile 3 - 10:05
Mile 4 - 10:03
Mile 5 - 9:56
Mile 6 - 10:04
Mile 7 - 10:21
Mile 8 - 10:27
Mile 9 - 10:20
Mile 10 - 10:12
Mile 11 - 10:08
Mile 12 - 10:02
Mile 13 - 9:58
Mile 14 - 9:51
Mile 15 - 9:51
Mile 16 - 9:05


      A great run, most likely tomorrow will be a rest day due to crappy rainy weather.