Chasing a Ghost

I don't know anyone who truly looks forward to a long run. I'm of the mind that anyone who says they do is a stinkin' liar. I knew I wanted to do 12ish today - my last long run before Allentown, but I won't lie to you... I wasn't looking forward to it. Part of the reason being that I've been in somewhat of a speed funk (or lack thereof, I should say) lately. I am happy that my shins/calves/hips/etc. have been keeping fairly quiet, but I am not happy that I have slowed down considerably since last fall.

I went to Tinicum and really did not put pressure on myself to run fast. I knew I'd be out there for a while and it was important to me to finish the run, so I kept the pace comfortable, though still pushing it here and there. I did the interesting part of the lower loop and then two full loops around Darby Lake before heading back down the connector stretch, down the boring part of the lower loop, and then home. My energy level was good for about three quarters of the run and then I was really starting to feel tired, but I was okay with that. I should feel tired after running 9+ miles. Other than the fatigue... everything else felt good.

Piecing together from various g-maps I have of the area, it seems that my run was about 12.6 miles. I finished in 1 hour 53 minutes, which is barely shy of a nine minute mile. I know I said that I intentionally didn't push the pace, but I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed by this. I look back to this past fall when I ran a 1:49:38 at the PDR. That's an 8:22 pace.... which seems so far out of my grasp right now and that is really frustrating.

I know I should be grateful that I'm running injury free these days and I very much am. I need to keep that in mind. It's hard though.

But... as they say... the hay is in the barn. And, of course, the idea of that makes me smile. Two weeks until Allentown. I'll do my best.