Long run this morning. I was finally able to get a long tempo run in (10 miles) for the first time in quite a while. I got up, and it was already 70+ degrees outside, but it didn't feel to bad. Nevertheless, I decided that to be safe I needed to do my tempo early in my run rather than waiting until the second half when I would already be dehydrated and hot. I warmed up for about 1.25 miles, and started the tempo at the 4 mile marker on the Pittman wash. The majority of the way out on this tempo is uphill, so things were decidedly slower until I hit the turn-around. There were also a fair number of twists, turns, and underpasses, which slowed me down irregardless of the direction I was heading. All in all, I think that the downhill miles may together have been marginally faster than what I would find on flat, straight ground, while the uphill miles were considerably slower. Anyhow, I decided to not push the pace too hard at the beginning in order to give myself a mile or so to decide how hard to run going uphill. Splits were 6:01, 5:48 for the first 2 miles. The first mile has the most uphill, but the second mile is probably equally slow due to lots of twists and turns, plus a bigger underpass than in the first mile. Missed the split at mile 3, but the split at the turn-around for mile 4 was 11:32 (5:46 average, 23:21 for the first 4 miles). Those 2 miles are definitely faster than the previous 2, with the 4th mile having only a mild uphill, and being flat for the second half mile, but for some reason I just relaxed and didn't speed up at all until after the turn-around. Mile 5 was a 5:17 as I realized that I had been running too easy when I sped up to pass some trail construction and I still felt like I was barely working despite the increase in pace (28:38 for 5 miles). I missed the 6 mile marker, but hit a two mile split of 10:50 at 7 miles (5:25 average, these miles are probably slower than flat miles despite the downhill due to underpasses, sharp turns, etc), followed by an 8 mile split of 5:11 (this one surprised me, but I think the downhill helped me a bit more this mile, despite another underpass, as the downhill is steeper). Another turn-around followed at the end of this mile, and the last 2 miles were uphill again (the same stretch as the first 2 miles). I hit these 2 miles in 5:48, 5:48 (27:37 for the second 5 miles, 56:15 total for 10 miles). It was good to know that the same effort that got me an average pace of just under 5:20 for 4 miles mid tempo was the effort that got me the 5:48 miles at the beginning and end of the tempo, as it validated for me how slow the uphill makes those miles. I was also glad that I felt as good as I did despite the warm weather (again), as it was 70 degrees when I started, and I imagine that temps were over 80 by the time I finished the run (the high for today was 93). After the tempo I ran to a water fountain to get a drink, then ran to the high school so that I could get a drink there too (better water). I was now at about 14.5 miles, so I ran 2.75 miles back out the way I came before turning around to head for home. The same mile I hit a 5:11 on at the end of the tempo began a half mile after I started heading for home, and I ran a "fat" mile here in 5:39. I was really just cruising, probably about a 5:50 effort on flat ground, but that was all I was shooting for anyhow. I made it home to finish up 20 miles total in 2:09:XX. It was good to finally get in one last long tempo before the marathon in three weeks in Indianapolis. This was a good confidence boost for me.
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