So on Saturday I had this wonderful idea of running the Brentwood Greenway. I have been running the trails behind the YMCA on Concord road all last week and loved it. So I thought well lets try the Greenway. From where the path splits off of to the end of the Greenway is only 5.35 miles. So if I did the whole thing out and back would be around 12.7 miles. I have not run this far since Tom King and was curious if I still could run close to race pace for this distance. On the Nashville Striders website there was a post about this route. It said there was a massive hill on Raintree Parkway. So as I ran out there I thought if I feel good I may go all the way down to the end, but if I don’t then I will just turn around and shorten my run. The weather was cloudy and cool, great running weather! I felt good and really wanted to see this hill for myself. Once arriving to said hill, the wise descision would have been to turn around and run back to the park. No, I have to see if I can conquer said hill. As my oxygen deprived brain and legs finally reach the half way point. This litte Asian man runs past me like I am standing still. He is all smiles and loving life. Meanwhile I am wishing death would take me. I reach the top of the hill, glad that my hamstrings can get some rest. The downhill then caused my quads to scream for mercy. As I run down the hill it dawns on me that I will have to run up this hill on the way back. What a MORON! I really did not intead to make this long run such a challenge. If I did I would not have run the 9 miles on Tuesday at faster then race pace. Now on the way back to the big hill it starts to rain. Ahh Tom King all over again. This time I am not prepared for it and get soaked from miles 6 through miles 11, but I don’t care I just want my hamstrings to stop screaming at me. I get back to the Crockett Park area and the thought of running 13 or more miles faded fast. I managed to cap this run off at 12 miles. I have never been so glad to see my car in my life.
When I look back at the run it was a great day. I kept a respectable pace of 9:30 (for me that is) over a very hill route. I got my mileage in for the month and even with 4 days off hit 100 miles for March. I just was not expecting the hill to be a 200 ft incline. I will be ready next time. Which will be a long time from now. My legs are still a mess from this run. Now on to a 5 mile race on Saturday. I pray there are no hills!!