Yesterday I had 18 miles on the plan and we wanted to change up the scenery for this one. We can do 12 miles or so in our usual neighborhood but once it gets more than that it gets a little old. So we decided to go to Prince William Forrest Park for our long run. K and I planned on doing 18 miles and 2 other running buddies did a 5 mile run and then biked the rest.
I LOVE to check out new place and it feels like you never know what happens once you turn around. It keeps me busy and I totally forget that I will run for 3+ hours!
We started shortly after 7am and it was in the 70′s and humid. The first 3 miles we had our own lane, cars were on the right side and bikes/runners shared the left.
Team in Training was out with their bikes and it was nice to have so many bikers around us. We felt good and save.
It is a very pretty park! I really liked that the whole time we were running in shade. First it was humid, but after an hour or so, it got better, still warm though, but at least not humid. We first ran a 7 mile loop. The last 2 miles were super hilly, I never ran anything like that. We almost passed a guy on his bike!
That was one of the mean hills, unfortunately you can not see how bad it was. But we did it! After that we decided to do an out and back instead of that loop again. We had 3 miles left and decided to explore one of the many trails. We wandered of and found this really pretty place!
That made me realize again how much I love trail running! The last mile was one of our fastest (10 min/mile), I guess we were ready to be done!
We finished 18 miles in 3:12 and felt great!
My legs were a little sore, but I really liked how my stomach was feeling. That is always tricky for me and I think for me the less I eat the better I feel. I had a huge dinner last night, but hardly ate anything during the run and I think that works best for me.I drink plenty of Gatorade to make it up though.
How was your long this weekend?
Do you run the same route or do you like to explore new place?
Sounds like a great run! Nice job!
That looks like a great long run. I struggled through a hot, humid 16 miles yesterday but I should have planned a lot more shade!!
I like how you are able to decide if eating less is better for you on your runs. That shows you are in touch and are listening to your body. Love the scenary. Very pretty. Good job for running in the heat/humidity.
It was a great morning… Good job on the time! I hope we can do it again when I don’t have to ride…
This sounds like such a great run! I have decided that I love trail running too even though I haven’t done a lot of it, it’s so fun to mix it up. Great job!
My long run this weekend STUNK! (You can find me on DailyMile and read about it if you want
I would LOVE a new route but our town is so tiny. We do live in an awesome area for trail runs I just refuse to run them alone. Need to find a running partner who wants to go 18-20 miles with me.
http://www.dailymile.com/people/flyingfeet ) LOL it was humid and then it just rained.
http://www.flyingfeetinfaith.blogspot.com
I hear you on running trails alone, I don’t do that either, but I’m lucky to have some women running with me. We met through the local running club and now created our own running group!
Nice job…18 is a LOT! That running lane you had to run in is fun. I’ve never seen something like that. Cool.
[...] It was a great long run, I called it “New Places – Happy Faces”. You can read more about it HERE. [...]
I have a 20 miler coming up this weekend, and I too like to tackle new routes. Since my area doesn\’t really have trail systems, etc., it is usually my creating either an out-and-back, or a new loop in a different direction from home. The one I have coming up will take me on a new southerly route for the first half of the run, and will be a four city tour (although I\’ll be doing nearly all of it pre-dawn). Glad your run went so well !