Freeport 15

Sunday I needed to make up for Saturday's screw-up of a run, but with more snow and not a lot of time I ruled out exploring snowmobile trails. I wanted to get in 15 miles and that's just about how far it is from my house to my parents, and since I needed to go over there anyway it made sense to run (and have Emma come meet me). I didn't get out the door until almost 2:00 so I knew I had to run fast enough to get there before it got too dark. It would not be a good idea to be out on the roads during a snow storm after dark.

Apart from a little tightness in my right achilles, leftover from my "sprained" ankle a week ago, everything was feeling pretty good and the achilles loosened up after about a mile. Snow was falling steadily but the temperature was very comfortable and I was enjoying the run. There was a thick coating of snow/slush on the road shoulder which I had to do most of my running in to stay out of traffic. This slowed me down a little but kinda made it feel more like I was running off road which I consider a good thing.

The first 4 miles went by quickly but there was a gradual uphill theme to the next 5 miles that started to wear me down a bit. I didn't slow by much but I definitely felt like I was putting in a lot of effort to stay below an 8 minute pace. The last 6 miles is a subtle roller coaster so my splits were all over the place but I was still making good progress. I started to get concerned about making to my parents house before it got dark so I made sure not to let up too much on the uphills.

It turned out to be just under 15 miles to my parents house and for a few moments I considered going out a bit longer to bring it up to an even 15 but by now it had started to rain, I was wet, it was getting dark and I felt ready to stop. I'm going to attempt to run 50k next weekend with the fine folks of the GAC, but based on how this run felt I don't think I'm quite ready for that distance. I've been slacking since Stone Cat and I need to get back into the rhythm of training. If I don't manage the whole distance at the Fat Ass next weekend I'll need to find another opportunity later in the month to get in an ultra-distance training run.

time: 1:54:54
distance: 14.75 miles
pace: 7:47

weather: low 30's, mostly snowy, some light rain

conditions: roads, sloppy slushy shoulders

gear: Brooks Cascadia 3, Smart Wool socks, tights, t-shirt, long sleeve shirt, mittens, buff, Nathan HPL #20