MDay -32 -- Wed. Aug. 19

Revised schedule a bit to compensate for the biking interval, so today called for an easy long run of 13 miles. I ended up mis-remembering the toughness of Gulf hill, so easy is not what it felt like, but the pace was reasonable, at least. Went out just before 7 p.m., the heat not so intense but muggy as ever. Rather than face the uphill on 202, I went out to 9 and then along to Federal, down the hill towards Gulf that way. Took a small part of the rail trail from Cheryl Circle to Federal, then started on the long uphill. Gulf all the way, veering left on to NGulf and round to Packardville, then take a right back towards Meads Corner. The uphill was tough, but I kept it steady, worrying a bit about achilles tendon wear. Startled a snake (who then startled the heck out of me!) midway across the pond causeway, and another even bigger one further on; running out of water by the time I got to 202, and feeling hungry (should have eaten before going out for more than double digits). Downhill helps: pick up pace a bit, aiming to end up with a decent negative split. Head back via VFW road, and come to 13.1 just by the supermarket:

Time: 1:43:49
Distance: 13.11 miles
Pace: 7:55s

Comment: Felt pretty hard at the end, as I'd pushed a bit to go from a first half at about 8:10s to the eventual overall average of 7:55s. Still, the mileage is good, and the hills were an unplanned bonus.