Still Searchin'

I took advantage of not working today and headed out around lunchtime for what I hoped would be an easy-paced 10.2 miles over in my old neighborhood. I had no pace goal, other than slow. In fact, I left my watch at home. Not intentionally but I wasn't going to worry about pace anyway so it didn't matter. I made a note of what time the clock in my car said just before I got out so I'd have an idea of the total duration when I returned.

It was pretty danged windy today, especially when headed in certain directions as this course takes many turns. As time wore on I also began to notice just how darned hot it was out there. It was the first training run since last Fall where I was really thirsty by the conclusion. When I got home the thermometer I have outside (in the shade) said 84.

The wind and the heat made this run the most difficult one so far this week. I really wanted to quit or cut it short several times but never did. I thought I had an easy pace going but when I finally got to my car I saw that I had been gone one hour, nine minutes. That's a 6:46 pace. It certainly didn't feel like a 6:46 pace. I'm still surprised at that number.

I guess I'm still searchin' for that easy pace. Hopefully I'll have something left in the tank for a long-run tomorrow or Sunday.