Lazy Sunday Long Run

Target: 5k easy; 15k alt. 400m hard, 600m easy; 5k easy
Actual: 30 mins. easy; 58 mins. w/1:30 hard; 3:00 easy, 25 mins. uptempo
Total: 17 miles @1:52:35 

For the first time in as long as I can remember, my weekend approximated that of a normal American. Last night we hosted friends from the city who came over, joined us for a great dinner out and then spent the night. This morning we slept in, refusing to set an alarm, then awoke at a leisurely 8:30 and started the day with some pumpkin spice coffee. I'd planned to depart for my long run once our company departed for their yoga class, but unlike yesterday's picture perfect autumn weather it was dark and dreary and intermittently pouring rain. So instead, Jordan and Weezy and I crawled back under the covers and commenced a good old-fashioned lazy Sunday. We watched Meet the Press, tracked Emily as she raced the Toronto marathon, snacked and drank more coffee. By the time I headed out the door it was well past noon and I was already counting down the minutes to when I could hop back in bed.

Perhaps because of that eagerness to be done, I was already clipping along at a slightly quicker than usual pace even during the warmup. Once I hit the Neck--where I planned to complete two loops including the lighthouse lollipop both times--I was really rolling, maintaining a decent tempo even on my recovery segments. I continue to harbor a love/hate relationship with the Neck; on good days, my legs seem to gobble up the rolling hills, but on bad days I'm the one who feels consumed. Fortunately today fell into the former category, and in fact just like on Thursday the toughest portion of the entire run was traversing the perfectly flat causeway while battling a stiff headwind.

Once I completed the workout section of the run, my instructions were to jog an easy 5k back. But I was on a roll and feeling no worse for the wear, so I decided to keep pressing all the way home. The final five minutes were tough, but having already decided to reward myself with chocolate milk and a pumpkin donut I was able to keep my eye on the prize and press to the end. After all, the sooner this run was complete the sooner I could return to my lazy Sunday!