Sunday long run

Very good run just now - I am especially elated by it now that it is over! Temperatures rose to the low 30s - it was snowing this morning, but sidewalks were clear by the time I went out this afternoon - really it was rather what I would call perfect running weather...

Mental soundtrack:

Miles 1-3: Gosh, that trail running does some mighty strange things to some odd little muscles! Lower legs - and are those the INSTEPS OF MY FEET?!?

Miles 4-6: OK, you can slow it down, maximum benefit from long runs comes from doing 'em lower heart-rate, you still have a lot more miles to go... No cheating - do not even think about only doing 1 loop instead of 2 - you are behind schedule for this marathon training already, if you do not do 12 this weekend you are well and truly f-ed!

Mile 7: I LOVE RUNNING! IT IS THE BEST THING IN THE WORLD! I feel as though I am moving along as smoothly and effortlessly as a hot knife through butter!!!!

Mile 8: Hmmmm, buttocks and thighs very numb, is that from cold or soreness?!?

Mile 9: Interesting feeling of increasing soreness in the legs - and yet I am running so comfortably in an aerobic sense, even these hills are not phasing me at all at this pace, my cardiovascular system is still in pretty good nick...

Mile 10: Ah, this is good, the 3 remaining miles are the REAL ACTUAL PHYSICAL MILES BETWEEN HERE AND MY HOME...

Miles 11-12: Hmmmm, curiously enjoyable, I liked this run! I feel like I could go on at this rate for hours more - only my legs would protest!

So, in sum, I would say that I just haven't been putting enough miles on my legs for this to have been a super-comfortable run - I had good miles in October and November, but post-marathon I took some recovery time and am only just now really getting back into it. My last 'long' run was 10 miles on Dec. 31, more than 2 weeks ago, so it is not surprising this one felt tough on the legs; and both Wednesday and Friday, I had tough hills. But it still felt pretty OK, and in many respects very enjoyable indeed.

On the bright side, my aerobic fitness seems very good, and I don't think I've lost the, as it were, fueling-type fitness from fall marathon training - I didn't take a gel or anything during this run, just made sure to drink some water, and I felt I could have gone on a good while longer without fuel...

I was determined to sit in a cold bath for muscle benefits when I got home - I felt sure that this was exactly the time I would most benefit, and I was not particularly cold from my run. Also, the bathroom in my new apartment has amazingly good steam heat!

I didn't have ice, but I ran very cold water - however I really could not make myself stay in it! It felt good on the legs themselves, only my toes were so cold that even poking up out of the water they felt intensely painful, and I decided it was not sensible - in fact it seems to me that in the regular size and shape of bath, if one has cold toes and tight hamstrings, it is very unlikely that one will be able to find a tolerable position for muscle-dunking purposes!

12 miles easy