Last week I ran on the Scottsdale Community College track for my long run of an hour and forty-five minutes. It was flat as a pancake and I was able to run pretty comfortably at a pace of 8:19 per mile. It felt good.
Today was a different story. My long run was two hours today and I decided to run around my office. It is also relatively flat but does have a few gentle hills. I also decided to manage my heart-rate closely at below 150. I stopped after an hour to refuel (water and carbs).
In the end, I ran just over a half marathon at an average pace of just under 9 minutes per mile. Pretty awful considering I used to easily do more than fourteen-and-a-half miles in two hours with my heart rate managed below 150.
Next week, I have a two hour and fifteen minutes for my long run. We’ll see how I do…