This was merely the best long training run I've ever had. Period. The details?
We gathered at RunTex at 6:00 am, under overcast skies, at 52 perfect degrees. Shorts and long sleeve poly shirt were all I needed, along with a cap. Gilbert told us to go out easy, 1:00 to 1:30 per mile slower than race pace, and to push the last 5 miles from 35th and Exposition all the way back to the zero mile marker. He told us if we insisted, we could add any necessary distance after than 5 mile high speed push at an easy cooldown pace to get to 18 miles. The course was the long-mentioned RunTex to Mount Bonnell, over Mount Bonnell, down and up to RR 2222, then turnaround and climb back up over Mount Bonnell, then down and along the rolling but challenging Exposition, and finally to the trail and back to RunTex. I felt good just waiting to run, so I was cautiously optimistic.
Our long run crew grew with the addition of two guys from the afternoon group, Craig and John(?). Tracy, Patrick and I did our first mile in a sedate 10:00, as Diana, Craig and John got carried away with the other Gazelles early. We tooled along for a second mile at about the same pace, then stopped briefly at the Mopac bridge to let Tracy get a rock out of her shoe. Diana and the new guys were there, so we rejoined forces at that point. We reached the first water stop (3.77 miles in), averaging 10:05 pace. Perfect so far! Greta joined us at the water stop, having overslept, but since she only needed 10-12 miles, she was about right. She paired up with Tracy, and the rest of us moved slightly ahead.
After a short run to the bathrooms at the boat docks and a short stop there for hydration adjustments, we were off again on the Scenic loop, a hilly favorite among the running community here. We rolled that loop at a slightly elevated 9:50/mile pace, about 2.5 miles. Turning onto 35th Street, we began the assault on Bonnell, Part One. Tracy and Greta stopped at Mayfield Park, but they had told us to go on, that they were assaulting the mountain at a slower pace today.
Craig, Patrick, Diana and I started up Bonnell, which has a hard right turn in the middle of the climb, disguising the evil slope from view until you're a third of the way up. It's one of those three part hills, a steep first section, then a slightly less steep longer section, then a false flat that is still inclined, and a final steeper bit to the top. We powered up the hill in pretty good fashion, and reached the Powerade stop at the peak of Bonnell. Our climb had been at 10:00/mile pace, which was much better than I had expected. I worked fairly hard to climb that part of the route, but it wasn't all out by any means. I took my first GU here. We were at 7.1 miles, average pace so far 9:56.
Craig bid us adieu, and headed back. John kept running ahead, then stopping to stretch, and starting again. Diana, Patrick and I began the new (to me) section of the route to RR 2222 and back. It started with a series of downhills, some of them very steep, some milder, then some climbs, some very steep, back up to RR 2222. Then, all you had to do is turn around and climb back up to the top of Bonnell again. It was steeper coming up this side of Bonnell, I think. We saw Gilbert and the faster Gazelles coming up Bonnell as we went down that side of the mountain, which was cool. Anyway, we rolled through the downhill initial mile at 9:20, all due to gravity's help. Then, a 9:48 mile to the turnaround and partway back, and a final 1.2 miles climbing up the tough stuff at 9:35 overall pace. I felt really good through this section, even being cautious on the steepest sections, and reached the Powerade stop again feeling great. I took another GU here, just for fun. It was amazing to have done what we did, but we had miles to go before we were done. We were at 10.4 miles, average pace down to 9:51/mile. The worst of the course was presumably behind us, and we were ready to roll.
Coming down the steep Bonnell Road, we knocked out another gravity enhanced 8:57 mile. We eased the pace back down going up 35th street and its hills, to 9:30 pace or so, and then turned onto Exposition and the commencement of the acceleration section of the day. After starting to push the pace, gently at first, we clicked off a mile at 9:08, which included about half and half speedier pace and long run pace. Then we rolled through an 8:20 mile and a shorter 8:50 section to the last PowerAde stop. I took my last GU, and we hit the road again for the home stretch of the fast section. We were at 13.6 miles, average pace down to 9:37/mile. Those fast miles really change the overall pace!
The next mile was more or less gently downhill, to the Mopac bridge, following a chunk of the Freescale marathon course. That one passed at a startling 7:47/mile. Diana and Patrick started pulling away ever so slightly as we raced across the footbridge under Mopac, and I decided to let them do so. We were cruising at speeds that I had no idea that I could do at this point in a long run, and I was happy with my pace. They could go faster if they wanted.
Now, on the trail, I knew exactly how far to the zero marker, so I pushed. I didn't feel like I was running that hard, although I certainly was. It was almost magical how I felt. Next mile was 7:36, then 7:11, and finally a short bit of a third of a mile at 7:52 pace as I eased up a bit near the finish. I stopped ever so briefly to chat with Diana and Patrick, who had gotten there maybe 30-40 seconds ahead of me, and we started our 1.1 mile cooldown jog around Auditorium Shores and back to RunTex. The cooldown was at 11:00 pace, and it felt good to let the legs gently warm down.
Final overall pace for 17.9 miles was 9:18/mile. I felt absolutely great at the end of the run. I was surprised at how great I felt on the 5 mile speed run, as well as on the big climbs around Bonnell. Just a magical day at the running office. I felt much better today than I did after the 16 miler a few weeks ago, which was on a much easier course.
The long stretching session with the Gazelles mob went great, with no real sore spots to be found. I'll make sure and do some more stretching as the day goes on, and I might even go for a 20 minute walk just to help the healing process.
I just can't believe how great this run was for me. Like we discussed afterwards, all the training is starting to really show itself in our performance. I can't wait for the Motive Half Marathon next weekend to see where I am. I think I should be able to run that race at a pace faster than the Pervasive 10 Miler a few weeks ago, especially if the weather holds.
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