Last long run

before the Philadelphia half-marathon, which is (strange to say) in two weeks--soon!

A quite decadent weekday run in Central Park--absolutely beautiful weather, sunny and crisp (around fifty degrees), not at all crowded. Minor technical glitches--I forgot to wear the HR strap! I forgot that I'd left my fuel belt in the freezer for a warm long run, and the blocks of ice annoyingly rattled around once I'd drunk my water! And I think I was rather dehydrated--I need to start making a conscious effort to drink steadily from the start of the run, especially as I never drink anything much beforehand due to the bladder-the-size-of-a-walnut issue...

Resolved: get several different hydration systems and experiment with what works best; make improvement!

Mile splits (oh, and I accidentally turned off my watch halfway through at a break and had to start it again, so the splits are off): the first half was 5.8 miles at 10:10 average pace, the second was 5.75 at 9:50 average. 9:54, 10:16, 9:28, 10:27, 10:16 and a bit; 10:28, 10:00, 9:50, 9:49, 9:14 and a bit. I am guessing HR was a bit high, probably similarish to another I had recently--maybe first three miles in the mid- to upper-140s, but tipping into the low 150s by halfway through and rising probably to 156-157 in the last few faster miles.

(Super-enjoyable run, though!)

Miscellaneous thoughts for next year: I am starting to get a clearer sense of the way the season will work. I will do the New York City Olympic-distance tri on July 20 and the Philadelphia marathon in November the week before Thanksgiving. I will do at least 2-3 short tris (sprint and/or Olympic) before the New York one, so that I have had some practice racing and can maximize chances of a good one. I am also leaning towards trying to to the Grand Prix half-marathon series (five half-marathons over the course of the year, one in each of the five boroughs)--this should be fun, and if it's not sensible to race 'em all I can do 'em as training runs if needed. And I will also try and do some of the Manhattan Island Foundation events--a couple open-water swims, a couple stroke-and-stride-type things. Thinking about it this way makes me see I must not even think about a half-iron-distance race for 2008, I will have a lot of good stuff to work on and will be in a great position to do one the year after...