Greg's Weight Loss Blog

Last Sunday I had my usual weekly long run but it was anything but usual. There were a lot of firsts on this run and I have enjoyed every one of them.

First of all, this was my first long run that I would actually start considering long. Up until now my longest run has been 9 miles. My Sunday run was a whopping 10.7 miles (17 km). This I would consider a long run. It  went really well, I have managed to run 10.7 miles in 1 hour 29 minutes and 55 seconds for an average pace of 8:24 minutes/mile. It was also my fastest long run by 5 seconds in terms of mile pace.

This was also my first run when I did not run alone. Sure, I have seen other people running before, I’d wave at them on the trail but I never ran with anyone else for a run. This time I ran with a co-worker. He is training for a marathon race in May and he’s well into his training which included a really long run for this weekend. He had to run 20 miles while my schedule called for 10. Running with someone was definitely interesting and great fun. Time goes a lot faster when you can chat with someone and discuss a lot of running stories or ask each others’ opinion about stuff. We also talked about non-running related topics and I think I got to know him better on the run as well. This is the beauty of a long run. It’s long and you have to run it at a conversational pace so you have time and energy to chat. Luckily we are very well matched in pace so we could run together just fine. I just wish I could find someone else to run with on a regular basis, he lives in Canada and he’s only down here two weeks at a time and then he goes back for two weeks. Maybe I’ll start looking for a running buddy at the running store although running seems to be a loner sport.

The fact that my co-worker had to run 20 miles and I had to run 10 caused another first. I had been running on loops and out and back courses. But this time I ran a one way run. We met at the trail head then drove his car to the other end and we ran to my car. I jumped in my car and drove home while my buddy had to run back to his car to cover another 10.7 miles. This setup worked out excellent for me and my co-worker listened to some tunes on the way back. It was also a great way to respect the distance a bit more as I was driving back to the other trail head I really got a feel to just how long 10 miles really is. It feels pretty long even in a car let alone running. I also lucked out on the elevation lottery as the run had ups and downs but overall I have lost 180 ft of elevation. Had I run the other way I would have ended up gaining that same 180 ft of elevation.

So you might wonder where I would find a 10 mile long trail. Actually it is a 20 mile long trail with a couple intermediate trail heads along the way. It’s called the Lake Mineral Wells Trailway. It was the first time I have actually ran this trail. It’s on the remaining bed of an abandoned railroad track which means it is relatively flat and the elevation chart is super smooth. There are no sudden hills or high climbs just some gradual elevation change that lasts miles at a time and is barely noticeable. Was it not for my heart rate monitor I would not have noticed that my effort was changing between climbs and descents. While the trail is not only nicely graded it is gravel which is a lot easier on your feet than concrete. I really liked the trail, I think I’ll use it for my future long runs too and I might take the family out there for a bike ride or two.

Overall I had a great time on this long run and I can’t wait to do it again. This coming weekend I’m running a 10K race so I won’t be doing a long run but I’ll be sure to come back at a later time.