Went out for another long run this morning. I usually do them on Saturdays, but given that we’re off to Graeme’s for a BBQ and there’s likely to be a few beers had, I figured I should get the run out of the way today. I ran 13.25km last weekend, so I decided to aim for 15km today. Looking around for a route to run, I settled on the Vaucluse Variation (large GIF), one of the Sydney Striders’ routes.

As it turned out it was a bit too much. I decide to run it in reverse, and all went well until around the 10km mark, by which stage I was almost at Neilsens Park. I’d run up Heartbreak Hill which was a killer on the legs, and from then on it was slightly uphill, then slightly downhill, which never gave my legs a chance to rest. I hadn’t brought a map of the route with me, so after Neilsens I couldn’t remember exactly where to go. I ended up improvising, and chose to run up Villare Lower Road which is bloody steep. Just what the legs didn’t need! A quick detour down to the lighthouse and back to finish up at the shops for a much needed bottle of coke. I now understand what they meant when their ads claimed “Can’t beat the feeling”… there’s nothing like an ice cold coke at the end of a long run!

Another week’s long run finished without incident, in this case 14.6km (1:24:55). Fractionally short of the 15km I was aiming for, but it was a lot hillier than I expected, and it’s still further than I’ve ever run before, so I’m happy.

B: 74km – R: 28.5km