Notes
It was a warm, very humid one today. The first mile my legs felt kind of dead but they warmed up. I really do think my GPS messed up the first mile-I don't think I sped up over a minute per mile for the second mile and my pace graph shows a weird dip on Garmin Connect. Anyway, doesn't matter, but I was surprised when 9:25 popped up on the screen.
I am eating some humble pie right now but it's good. This should be a pretty moderate/easy pace for me but it wasn't easy, especially with all the hills and the humidity. I like to go a little faster than easy pace on long runs. I think around a minute/mile slower than marathon pace is good. I read, I think on Jay Johnson's website, that long runs shouldn't be easy. If they're not a workout they shouldn't be a super hard effort, but they're not supposed to be easy. So I try to remember that on long runs.
I guess it's humbling because a regular moderate workout I did last cycle was 10 miles at 7:45 and I did it on a hilly route every time and it generally felt pretty easy. So I struggled to not compare today to that.
However, the best news ever is that my stride felt great today. I am almost afraid to say that and jinx it. But things felt normal. I didn't feel that weirdness on hills that I have been feeling. It felt the best it has since the whole mess started and so it makes me happy to have had this recovery time. I feel like I have used it well and hopefully things are clicking now.