Tonight went pretty well. I was scheduled for 5 miles and I ended up doing 6. We waited until 6:30pm to get started in an attempt to avoid the heat with limited success. It was still pretty hot when we started - I need to start checking the temp when I leave the house.
When I started, it was the standard hard push to get in the groove. I find that once I cross the dam and get up the first hill, then things fall into place better. However, the 1st uphill has no shade, so the sun beats down pretty hard on the first one. By the time I got to about 1.5 or 2 miles, I had decided to go ahead an push on to the West Point entrance to the park (I know this to be 5.6 miles if I start from the .5 mile marker), and about halfway back after the turnaround, I decided to tack on an additional half mile at the end to round out 6 miles. I was VERY thirsty when I finished and I'm going to have to start carrying more water to the dam with me. Maybe a quart with a weak Gatorade mixture with salt in it.
My 6 mile run was supposed to be tomorrow, and I'd been a little apprehensive about it. It's only a mile further than I've run before, but it was still somewhat of a mental barrier since I'm not 100% sure that I've ever run farther than 6 (even when on high school cross-country). It's behind me now and my next big number is 10. I want to move my weekly mileage up to 30 miles per week, with at least a 10 mile run on Saturday. It will take me a few more weeks to get there. I'm increasing my weekly mileage by 5 to 10% per week to avoid over-exertion and injuries.
I'll still try to do 6 miles tomorrow night. I may wait until later in the evening to take advantage of the cooler temps - unless it rains.
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