Well I did my long run last night in Centennial Park and it went pretty well. I changed into my run gear in work and left everything there, apart from wallet, phone etc. which I carried in a small backpack. Hopped on the bus out to the park, and started running around 17:30. I was feeling pretty good apart from the usual crap with my right foot, but I decided to stick out the first lap before stopping to adjust my shoelaces.

The lap went by surprisingly quickly in 22:25.7 (AvHR: 142) with the usual HR limit in place. I stopped for about 20secs to fix my laces and then headed off on the second lap. This felt a bit better as I was getting into my stride a bit. Towards the latter half of the lap my legs were starting to feel it a bit, and I was noticing a bit of ITB tightness around my knees which I was expecting. The last 40% of the lap is a slight uphill gradient, and this time I kept bumping up against the 145bpm HR limit which was a bit frustrating, forcing me to slow down a bit, leaving me with a lap time of 24:08.3 (AvHR: 143). Total time: 46:34.0.

At this stage in the game it’s far more important for me to get the distance under my belt rather than tire myself out by going too fast, hence the rigid HR limit. Also, apart from the 10K Bridge Run I did with Jacqui over a year ago, this was the longest ever run I’d done outside (I’d done 7.5km on a treadmill once before) so I was pretty happy with that. My legs are feeling it a bit today, though they’re not too bad and, given it’s my day off training today, they should be fine tomorrow. So, I’m proclaiming Long Run Wednesday a success.

S: 3000m – B: 28.0km – R: 11.9km – W: 1 session