Best. Long run. Ever.

This morning I woke up ready to go for my last long run before taper.  I had my usual long run breakfast of a bagel and peanut butter, double and triple checked the weather, got dressed, grabbed my Garmin, iPod, handheld and some Gu, and drove down to the Rec Centre.

I'd decided on a route that would take me up a big hill near the beginning of my run, along rolling hills throughout the middle, and back down to my car at the end.

From the rec centre, I did one lap around town and back up to the rec centre.  I was already regretting my long sleeve shirt as the sun was coming out and it was warming up quickly.  (Thanks for nothing, Weather Network).  I started off a bit too quickly and then had trouble finding my pace because the wind was gusty so I was constantly altering my effort level as the wind picked up and died down.  It didn't matter.  I was feeling good.  I was aiming to be between 6:30-6:45/km.  I wanted this run to be slow and comfortable.

6:01
6:24
6:34
6:34
6:38

As I came back around to the Rec Centre, the sun was really beating down and I realized I'd forgotten my sunscreen.  Something told me that I had some in my car from last summer so I made a quick pit stop, used the washroom, topped up my bottle, downed a Gu and slathered on the sunscreen.  Then it was time to head up THE HILL.  I used to hate this hill.  I used to hate all hills.  I just slowed down and made my way to the top, without even thinking about taking a walk break.

6:22
6:33
Pit Stop (paused my Garmin)
7:29  THE HILL
6:57 THE HILL cont'd
6:38

10K in, I was feeling great.  I was tempted to up the pace, but wanted to be smart and stick to my plan.  I really tried to keep it in check, but my pace kept getting away from me.  I followed the road going around the lake to the boat launch, which was my turn around point.  This road has lots of ups and downs, nothing to steep, or too long, just enough to keep things interesting!

6:36
6:23
6:13
6:27
6:05

After 16 K, I was still feeling good, but hot.  I took a quick walk break to have a Gu, and got right back on pace.  I remembered my last 20 miler when this was the point where I started to die.  I still felt like I had tons of energy, and my legs were feeling good.  I was just hot.  I debated about whether or not to change when I swung by home to refill my water bottle.  On the one hand, I was hot.  On the other, if I made the same mistake on race day, I'd have to live with it.  But I was hot.  When I ran past my house, I ran to the front door, untied my shoes with a quick leg stretch, chugged back a bit of Gatorade, swapped shirts for a tank top (yay summer!) and topped my water bottle

6:55 (Gu)
6:02
6:19
6:02
Pit Stop
6:30

After the stop at home, I was still feeling good.  Having only 13K to go felt toally manageable, especially because though I had some more rolling hills coming up, I also had some big down hills before the end.  I decided to aim for between 6:15-6:30/km for the rest of the run.  I took a quick walk break for a Gu, but I was feeling so great on the hills that I took it on a downhill portion.  This is a big change for me.  I used to hold off on walk breaks until I got toan uphill!

6:13
6:25
7:20 (Gu)
6:32
6:12

At this point, I was still feeling good, if starting to get a bit hungry.  I definitely need to eat a bit more before these long runs.  I'm going to try a bagel and a half next week or maybe add a banana. When I got to the first half of the downhill, I really tried to keep my pace slow and not trash my knees. My mantra was:  "Core, core, core.  Engage your core." It worked.  When I got tothe bottom I only had 5K to go, and couldn't believe how good I still felt. The big down hill was followed immediately by a big uphill.  I'd sorta forgotten about that hill when I was planning the route, and I'd had to walk it the last time I attempted to run it.  I admit, I did want to walk a bit here, but I thought of Emz, and her 24 hour run, and I decided that if Emz can run for 24 hours on a treadmill, I can run up this hill.  I slowed down, and kept running...all...the...way...to...the...top!  

6:16
5:56 Big downhill.
7:18 Big uphill
6:16
6:09 Big downhill

There were only 2K to go.  I was due for a Gu, but just kept going. 

6:30
6:30

I'm not going to lie, I was glad when it was over. But I also felt that if it was race day, I could keep going for another 10K.  That's a good feeling.

After some stretching, I scrounged together enough change in my car to stop at Tim's for a hot chocolate to keep me warm in my cold bath. 

I feel like I did everything right for this run.  I dropped back last week so had fresh legs this week.  I've been getting lots of sleep, and upping my water intake.  I had my pit stop at home planned for past half way which helped mentally.

This was not my fastest run, but I felt so good the whole time. And I ran the entire time.  Aside from my walk breaks for the Gu, I didn't walk on any hills, or to drink water.  I just ran. Slow and steady and comfortable the whole way.  Why can't all long runs be like this?