Longer and Longer

The Stats: 2/23 - 3/1
3/1: 7.0 mi; 59'50"; 8'31" avg. pace

The weather is moving back and forth between being tolerable and unruly. At least it stayed dry enough to get in the long run this week. My plan is to increase my long, weekend run by a mile each week until I do a 10-miler. So far so good. Ashley and her friend Jessica outran me by 1.5 miles on Saturday, but I knew not to try and match them. Getting the muscles and bones accustomed to long distances is best done incrementally.
We couldn't have asked for a better day on Saturday. Cool and dry, at about 42 degrees, we trotted from the 35th Street Bridge to the South Side Bridge. There was an unleashed dog on the boulevard presumably following his owner. Then, I got distracted by construction equipment sitting in a barge in the Kanawha. It looked like they are building up the bank with huge rocks. But I digress. I kept the pace slower than I needed to for the first three miles. I wanted to make sure I could summit the South Side Bridge effectively. Once that section was complete, I felt okay to open it up a bit more. MacCorkle is a boring stretch, but there is the fear of oncoming traffic to keep you alert. I ran that bit and back behind UC. The legs started protesting somewhat around mile five. Still, I felt like I could have done between 8 and 10 miles by the end of the run. I turned around at Memorial and ran my fastest mile back home. Finish strong.

My pace for the run was 8'31", and I happened to mention to the girls that I expected a 8'30" pace before starting. So I am on track both mileage and pace wise. Now I have to keep boosting the distance until we hit 13 miles in May.