Today's run was to be 7 miles....7 miles isn't that long. But I have to admit that when I run 7 miles (or longer), it's because I feel like it, not because someone/something is telling me to. So it proved interesting. I've been running the same outdoors run for some time which includes a small piece of the Fens and then around the Boston Common and back. It's roughly 7 miles. I didn't want to do it today.
Before leaving, I visited Google maps pedometer to find a new run, but to make sure it was at least 7 miles.
Here's what I decided:
It's not someplace I usually run, but looked good, and was a route I could remember. (Interactive map.)
It was an interesting day out there in the Boston running world. The marathon (there is only one, right), is 5 weeks away. I encountered at least 5 different runners. And the feeling I got from everyone one of them was that it was "long run Saturday". I have no idea how many of them are training for the marathon, but everyone, including myself seemed to be out for a long run. These were serious runners. We all had layers on given that the temperature would change about 10 degrees while we were out. Everyone had something in his/her hand: a water bottle, the gloves they had taken off, the hat they decided they didn't need, etc.
It was an interesting feeling. I was happy to be part of it even if my long run was less than half what I would be doing if I had a marathon in 5 weeks.
With this feeling in mind, it was somewhat ironic that I forgot my route would include Heartbreak hill. While I had only run 4 miles rather than 20 when I hit it, it still felt the same. I failed to be able to run it. As I was running DOWN heartbreak hill, I felt like using the potential energy that I had hardly earned was like cheating.
Overall, I feel like it was a good week #2 of half-marathon training. I might even get to run with my running partner soon.