The Rowe Family Blog

Exactly one week ago I had the best long run I’ve ever had. I wasn’t going to write about it since
posting about every single run I do is excessive and boring. However I got on a kick reading old blog entries and realized the value about writing about exceptional runs. I found some posts talking about long runs, my times, and how I felt. Not only were they far more entertaining than what I usually write but they showed me how I’ve progressed with running. So I will share my a recent long run. It was the best I’ve had so far!

Last Sunday I set out at about 6:30 AM for a 13-16 mile run. We had a family event to go to later in the day which prompted me to leave earlier than I ordinarily would. A 6:30 long run means that I’m up at 4:30 to eat a bagel followed by about another hour of sleep and then finally hitting the road.

Last Sunday was perfect. When I walked out the door the temperature was just right. I wasn’t cold and I wasn’t warm. I was just right and I didn’t need a shirt (it was in the low 60s and sunny). For a change I listened to the radio. The local Pop music station had a talk radio show on. I think it’s some sort of required public service since the topics are generally about charitable organizations and are often quite boring. I happened to be interested this time as they were talking about the Airport 5k.

My planned route was the Rowe Half with the possibility of extending it with the 3 mile loop. At the turn-around point of the Rowe Half I felt great. My times wasn’t spectacular but the weather was awesome and I was happy just to be outside. My time at that point was somewhere around 54 or 55 minutes (for 6.5 miles).

By the time I got to mile 10 it felt like I had only just started. I started thinking about running even more than 16 miles. Unlike a recent run the sun wasn’t bothering me. Even though it had warmed up I was still comfortable so I pressed on past 13 miles. At the 13 mile point I had clocked about 1:46 minutes. That meant that I sped up considerably but I hadn’t felt like I increased my effort. I continued my run around the 3 mile loop. At the end of the three mile loop I continued around the 2 mile loop. If you weren’t keeping track that’s 18 miles. I did 18 miles just under two hours and 25 minutes. My average pace was very close to an 8 minute mile. Best of all I felt great! Physically and mentally I felt really good.

That was the close to a record week in mileage for me. I logged more than 45 miles for the week. Capping it off with a run like that was the best. If there was anything better than the run (and there really wasn’t) it sharing my experience with the people I care about. I couldn’t wait to tell Mary, my parents, and the runners list about it.