It was cold and icy, but I was dressed warm and was comfortable. The first hour went by really fast, probably because it was still dark and quiet, and a lot of people still had their Christmas lights turned on.
I got to the bike path and it was super icy. I had to spend my time weaving around between dry pavement and the white snow. A lot of time I was running on uneven surfaces, and this, coupled with my lack of sleep and unbroken in shoes, my IT band started to act up and I had some knee pain.
But I kept going…. I briefly saw some ladies from my running club, Moms Run This Town, but they were going much faster than me, so I didn’t keep up.
After two hours, Madre came to join me for my last leg. She brought me some Body Glide for my toe that was rubbing, and we continued running.
We did a lot of small loops near the school and a church as to stay off of the ice at this time.
By the end of my run, I completed 15.5 miles in 3:29:44. I kept up my running intervals of 3:1 the entire time, and had a steady pace, averaging 13:32 per mile.
I was not tired cardiovascular-ly (is that a word?) but my knee was hurting and my legs were tired. BUT I finished!!!
I used this long run to complete a virtual race. I did Station 5 – Pearl – 23k for the We Get Lost in Running! series.
My legs were sore for the rest of the day, but once I stretched a lot and iced them down, they feel mostly better, with just a little soreness left.
In 2 weeks, when Heidi is up to Virginia for Christmas, we have an even longer race planned. At least 18 miles!