a perfect 10?

It has been a nice long weekend and the weather has been just spectacular! I took the day off yesterday, and no, it wasn't to go marathon shopping. I took it easy and got a few things accomplished at home, such as raking the leaves and mowing for the last time this year. Today I will get the lights out.

I slept in this morning and decided when I woke up to go for a nice easy long run. It was time. I shuffled around slowly, then decided to get ready and get out there. I caught the weather forecast on the TV and it is getting into the upper 50's today. How could I pass this up? Another stellar day! I had in my mind that I wanted a decent long run - not 6 or 7, but perhaps 10? It seemed a bit ambitious, but I thought I would set a route that would allow me to bail out if it got tough out there.

I went to Fort Harrison State Park and ran from there, out the back to my usual Fall Creek Trail route. I went out 3.5 miles and turned around and came back to the truck. I was feeling incredible! I grabbed some water and decided to run the loop trail in the park next (about 2.5+ miles). I put the earbuds back in my ears and took off. I couldn't believe how I was feeling. The plan was to run slow and steady and just enjoy the day and boy did I. I made it up the hills and curved around the top of the loop trail on the flat part and then began a slow decent back down. I got done in 87:46 -- an 8:45/mile average pace!?!? What happened to slow and steady?!? I felt like I could keep going -- and part of me wanted to, but I didn't want to ruin a good thing -- ten miles was awesome.

This was my runner's high for the year, I think. It was just an incredible run. It was the kind of run that I usually only read about, but have experienced it on a few occasions. Here are my splits if interested -- I actually got the steady part right...

• Mile 1: 8:55
• Mile 2: 8:54
• Mile 3: 9:00
• Mile 4: 8:56
• Mile 5: 8:39
• Mile 6: 8:24
• Mile 7: 8:28
• Mile 8: 9:02 (hills)
• Mile 9: 8:52
• Mile 10: 8:16 (easy - mostly down hill)