Another Long Run In The Bank

Legs were still a bit sore after yesterday’s race, but with just 5 weeks to go to the Shamrock Marathon, I needed to log another long run. I set off at 7am and headed towards the oceanfront 10 miles away. From the oceanfront I continued north along the boardwalk before taking a left at 64th Street into First Landing State Park.

From this point there were just five miles to run through the park where I’d arranged to meet my daughter who was home for the day from college. My plan was to complete the long run at 7:30 pace for the 20 miles and finished up in 2:29:03 for an average 7:28 per mile pace. No problems maintaining the pace, but the wind in my face for almost 15 miles was quite challenging! Good practice for Shamrock I guess…

So, another week of 60+ miles, but I really need to step things up to get into the 70’s for at least a couple of weeks out of the next three. 35 days to Shamrock….soon be time to taper!

Back at the house a few hours later, I decided to go for another run – this time an easy 5 miler with my daughter. I also wanted to try out my new compression leg sleeves from Zensah. The sleeves felt great and despite having run 20 miles in the morning, my legs felt pretty good too. I’ve been wearing the Zensah’s around for the rest of the day and I must say I’ve really enjoyed the support they’ve provided for my calves. The idea of the product is to provide oxygen to the muscles so that they recover faster. Hopefully after 25 miles today and a tough 14k race yesterday, the leg sleeves will have done what they’re designed to do and prepared my legs for another solid day of training tomorrow. I’ll report more as the week progresses.

One last thing: during the race yesterday I experienced a little foot discomfort and think that my Brooks Racer ST3’s are on the way out (i.e. they don’t have many miles/races left in them). Tonight I went online and found a good deal on the all-new Racer ST4 at RunningShoes.com. They offered the ST4 $5 cheaper than anywhere else with free shipping and I also managed to find a 10% coupon code for another $8.50 saving (coupon code OXFORD if you’re interested). Can’t wait to try them out – maybe they’ll arrive in time for this weekend’s Tune-Up Series 30k??