Long run #1

January 26th was my first long run of the training plan. With the Brookings Marathon just 16 weeks away, I'd better get moving. This run was on one of my favorite trails. I call it the Easley trail run because it begins just off Easley Road and 44th Ave. in Golden. Much of the part that I run is a dirt/gravel maintenence road along a drainage ditch. At about mile 3, the trail passes under 64th Ave. and turns to cement. Here it becomes the Ralston Creek path as it travels up and around the Ralston resevoir and then east into Arvada. I like this trail because it is often deserted except for the deer, coyote, and fox in the area. This day was unusually warm for January (53 degrees), so there were more people that usual out on the trail including those hiking, riding horses, and bikepathletes (i.e. bike path racers, weekend spandex wearing warriors). Scout and I made sure to stay out of the way of the bikepathletes.

Average pace over the 10 mile route was 9:28 which is about 1 min. per mile slower than my race pace. Range was 9:00 - 10:13 / mile, with the 10 min mile at mile 5 where you can see from the elevation chart I gained 176 ft. I did not wear my heart rate monitor as it rubs too much on the long runs and hurts. Once I get into speed and hill workouts, I'll wear it more often.