6.0 miles - medium/hard

Today was supposed to be an easy day, but I really wanted a longer run, but not a full 8+ miles. And it was kinda hot - 77° F around 5:00 PM when I was going to run, which, if you add the 20° F I supposedly gain when I'm running, makes it Africa hot.

Did I listen to the reasonable, logical voice in my head that said, "Go easy, don't push yourself, just cover the miles, walk if you need to, it'll be OK"? Did I?

Um, no.

I knew I was going to push myself as soon as I couldn't leave the house without my watch. Not taking the watch would have helped me slow down. And the funny part is, during the run I only looked at the watch three times, so it's not like I was watching the clock the whole time.

At any rate, I did my normal 6.0 mile loop. No music. And I only stopped three times, each time for water, and kept careful track of how long I stopped - the total time was 4:00.

I focused on relaxing my breathing. Maybe it's better to say I "de-focused" because I just let my body breathe as it wanted/needed to and tried to keep my conscious mind from regulating or even noticing my breathing at all. And this helped a bit.

But the other major thing I did differently, that helped me tremendously, was to practice visualization during the run. I would let my mind think ahead to the next section, and tried to picture myself conquering that section. It was aided by the fact that this is a familiar route, so I could fill in a lot of detail to make it stand out in my head. This was especially helpful on the hilly section along Holgate, but also a big assist during the long (and sunny and warm) section along the Springwater Corridor Trail, not to mention the final hill up Umatilla, where I normally have to stop and walk.

But... I didn't. I kept up an even, steady pace the whole time, which felt good. I didn't have any difficulty breathing, and except for the water stops (and gels, at the final water stop), I just kept going. It's been a while since I could say that on such a long run, so I'm pleased with my total time of 1:05:04, which translates to about a 10:50 pace overall.

If you subtract out the time I spent resting or getting water (that 4:00), I maintained about a 10:10 pace during my running sections, which are about 1.2 miles to the first water fountain, 0.9 miles to the next one, 1.9 miles to the next one, and 2.0 miles to the finish line. Nice work, Moon!