Early Morning Run

Today I woke up earlier than usual due to the sun beaming in through my bedroom window. The weather looked really nice out and I was too awake to go back to sleep so I got dressed and decided to go out and take a long run. The furthest I have run continuously in the past was around 8 miles so I made it my aim to run 9 miles today. Whilst I enjoy running I was never to interested in long distance running but there is a reason for the longer runs at the minute however as I'm running a half marathon for charity later in the year (13.1 miles). The marthon takes place along the river humber and across the humber bridge which is where I take my weekly long run. Todays run was fun, I started out at a comfortably easy pace but sped up as the run progressed trying to run 9 miles at my predicted race pace. Running alongside the River Humber is really peacefull so early in the day, I feel lucky to have such a nice route so close to my home.

The river humber and the humber bridge on a clear morning

I run the 9 miles in 1 hour 8 minutes and 39 seconds which is about a 7.38 pace. Id like to run the half marathon in under 1 hour 40 minutes and realised when I got back I was running dead on the pace needed to acheive a 1:40 time in the half marathon, that is, 7.38 per mile! This was a coincidence however as I had forgotten to check what my targer pace was before leaving, I just knew it was somewhere between 7.30 and 7.45, ha! Although the half marathon is another 4 miles on top of todays run my time today gave me a lot of confidence that ill be able to achieve it by the time the half marathon arrives as I felt strong all the way through todays run and the pace was comfortable for me.