Medium-Long Run On the ROADS!

Daily Quote: "Contemplating such numbers made my confidence plummet, so I trained myself not to look too far ahead. Instead, I celebrated each completed marathon as a baby step towards my final destination and looked no farther ahead than the next one--the next baby step. Would I be able to finish all fifty? I had no idea. I thought that I had trained and prepared adequately, but this was largely a step into the unknown. Every morning, I awoke with the same commitment: 'TODAY I will do the best that I can. TODAY I will try my hardest.'" --Dean Karnazes, from his excellent book, "50/50 Secrets I Learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days and How You Too Can Achieve Super Endurance!"

Today is my first Medium-Long Run on the roads and now my transition from the treadmill to the roads is complete! The only run this week on the treadmill was my Tempo Run...I'll continue doing speed work on the treadmill as I can control all the variables.

I decided not to increase my Medium-Long Run from the previous week, but ease into the road run by repeating the distance of 16 miles.

I set my alarm for 7:00 a.m. this morning as Las Vegas is having a heat wave, today will be a high of 106 degrees! I'll only have four hours of sleep, but plan on returning to bed after my run. Morning heart rate: 41 bpm.

7:30 a.m. Medium-Long Run. 16 miles. Time, 2:32. Overall pace: 9:33 minute miles. Out-and-back to North Las Vegas Airport on Carey Road. Warm, Sunny, 74-80 degrees, light breeze. Average Heart Rate: 144 bpm. Cardiac Drift: 151 bpm. Wore my Camelbak, which had a large bladder of 48 ounces, more than enough fluids, although by the end of the run the water was rather warm. No aches nor pain, but could have slathered more suntan lotion as the back of my neck is burned (forgot that spot!)

It's 10:30 a.m. and I'm now returning to bed for three hours. Nighty-night.