I’m not going to be able to run for the next few days, so I decided to tackle a hilly 12 miler before my break.map of route

I started at 6:30 pm with my headlamp and a lot of warm gear on. The temperature was 8 degrees! Thankfully, there wasn’t any wind which made a huge difference. I dressed perfectly and was pretty comfortable for the whole time.

I took it really easy for the first several miles. Had some knee pain at mile four, but worked through it. Once I knew I had it in the bag, I lit it up and ran at a 7’ish pace for the last couple of miles. Finish time was 1:56. The condensation around my face combined with the cold air caused it to go numb as if I had been to the dentist. Luckily that subsided once I got in the car.

There was enough ambient light from a nearby road that I was able to run 80% of the way with my headlamp turned off. That was nice, because with my senses a little bit suppressed, I was able to concentrate a lot better on my breathing and stride. I tried really hard to stay smooth.

My previous long run was 8.5 miles back in October – before the knee troubles set in. It’s been a long road back, but I feel like I’m finally getting there. I’ll be really curious to see how the legs feel in the next day or two, kinda felt like the Tin Man getting out of the car…