I don't know that I've run 10 miles outdoors in State College more than once in my life. And while it was tempting just to hang around the hotel this morning, I think that my running friends back in Baltimore would not have forgiven me for passing up an opportunity to run 10 miles on a morning that started out at 54 degrees.
The miles I ran started with a big uphill leaving our hotel on College Ave and running up Porter toward Beaver Stadium. I had forgotten about the fields on the side of Porter and the smell of manure was not overwhelming but was interesting during the initial part of the run. First mile at 9:05.
Then, things were level for a while as I went along the north side of campus. Past my old residence halls, North Halls where two of my closest friends from the Newman Catholic Student Association had lived. Second mile at 8:36. Feeling pretty good.
For the third and fourth miles, I was running through the golf course area. I'd never followed Park Ave past Atherton before. It was fun exploring the edge of the golf course. Those were at 8:23 and 8:22.
Moving right along, I sped up in mile 5. I got to a point at which I was on a trail and another person got to an intersection of two trails just before I did. I always worry when I am immediately behind a female runner going about the same pace. So, partly to avoid creeping out a fellow runner and partly because of an inherently competitive spirit I have, I decided to pass. Then ran until my watch beeped for mile 5 and then turned around. Mile 5 was at 8:02 with some uphill.
Mile 6 was more down than up and back over an area with which I was not somewhat familiar--8:04. I was a little surprised that it was slower.
Mile 7 was more up than down and over a different area (labeled "west campus") that I don't know that I'd ever been on--8:10.
The last three miles didn't feel hard at all and I just carried on with 7:56, 7:50, and 7:31. All felt good. Running around the cars parked to get into Beaver Stadium parking very early for a 3:30 PM game.
A great start to fall running. And reassurance that for 26.2 on October 15 I should be fine.
The miles I ran started with a big uphill leaving our hotel on College Ave and running up Porter toward Beaver Stadium. I had forgotten about the fields on the side of Porter and the smell of manure was not overwhelming but was interesting during the initial part of the run. First mile at 9:05.
Then, things were level for a while as I went along the north side of campus. Past my old residence halls, North Halls where two of my closest friends from the Newman Catholic Student Association had lived. Second mile at 8:36. Feeling pretty good.
For the third and fourth miles, I was running through the golf course area. I'd never followed Park Ave past Atherton before. It was fun exploring the edge of the golf course. Those were at 8:23 and 8:22.
Moving right along, I sped up in mile 5. I got to a point at which I was on a trail and another person got to an intersection of two trails just before I did. I always worry when I am immediately behind a female runner going about the same pace. So, partly to avoid creeping out a fellow runner and partly because of an inherently competitive spirit I have, I decided to pass. Then ran until my watch beeped for mile 5 and then turned around. Mile 5 was at 8:02 with some uphill.
Mile 6 was more down than up and back over an area with which I was not somewhat familiar--8:04. I was a little surprised that it was slower.
Mile 7 was more up than down and over a different area (labeled "west campus") that I don't know that I'd ever been on--8:10.
The last three miles didn't feel hard at all and I just carried on with 7:56, 7:50, and 7:31. All felt good. Running around the cars parked to get into Beaver Stadium parking very early for a 3:30 PM game.
A great start to fall running. And reassurance that for 26.2 on October 15 I should be fine.
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