Notes
No, 10 isn't particularly long, but for the kind of training I'm doing now and will be doing for most of the spring, long runs are only going to be about 60-90 minutes. 10-12, and today felt more like a 10 day.
The first half felt pretty forced. The legs felt tight and the lungs just didn't seem to have their head in the game. I also had some episodes of cramps and just overall fatigue. Almost turned back after about 3 to make it a 6 mile day and try again tomorrow, but just about then things started to look up. The second half was great. My legs loosened up, my form perked up and relaxed, and I just felt more like myself. It also helped that the second half was almost entirely with the wind, or at least not directly into the wind as the first half had been.
I chose a 10 mile loop from high school, and did the same "street light mile" fartlek I've been doing on that loop for the last 8 years. The last mile has a decent number of street lights about 100m apart. Alternated every 100m between an almost sprint and an easy jog for the last mile (ish).
The weather doesn't feel much like Christmas, however the mid 30s sure does make running easy in December. Yikes!