BB Medium Distance Run

This week I have the good fortune of being at the beach.  I love running out here because no matter where I go it's flat as a pancake.  When I first started running I loved this because it meant no uphill climbs; now I love it because it means I don't have to worry about jarring my knees or aggravating my shin splints on a downhill pitch.  Since I haven't been able to run anything over 7 miles in the past month and a half I knew I wanted to do a medium/long run out here to reassure myself that I've "still got it" and can handle 20in24 in 11 days.

So I woke up at 6:15.  By choice.  On vacation.

In my defense, the East coast is currently experiencing a heat wave; I did a 3 mile run around 9am a few days ago and nearly melted.  I knew that if I wanted to cover any sort of distance, I needed to start early. Even so, I didn't make it out the door before 7am.

The first 4 miles of my run were on route 1.  It was boring, flat, and shady, which was wonderful.  There also weren't many other runners or bikers out yet - I guess they decided to sleep in.

Not bad for running on the side of a highway, right?

Right before I hit mile 4, I passed the entrance to downtown Bethany Beach.  It was pretty quiet.  I took a picture of a totem pole at the entrance, but it didn't come out too well because of where the sun was positioned.

Thank goodness for Instagram.  He looks like he's asleep, doesn't he?

At 4.5 miles I hit my turn-around point.  I wanted to cover a total distance of around 8.4 miles (which is one loop at 20in24) at a reasonable pace to see how it felt.  I made my way back through downtown Bethany and climbed on to the boardwalk for a pretty (though sunny and hot) half mile next to the ocean.

While on the boardwalk I noticed a lot of people starting their morning runs and walks.  When I got back on route 1 heading home I noticed a lot more runners, bikers, and walkers out.  It was also significantly warmer than it had been when I started my run.  By the time I hit mile 8, I was out of Gatorade and really starting to feel the heat.  The last (almost) mile home seemed like it took forever but only took around 9 minutes.

In total, the run was 8.93 miles and took me 1:24:12.  I kept an average pace of 9:25, which is a faster pace than I plan to run 20in24 in.  So far I feel great, which means it's time for a dip in the ocean and a nap on the beach...