Long Run #1 - 6 miles

I went on my first long run of my training plan on Sunday. It was 6 miles. First, I did a walk at the State Capitol for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. They raised over $120,000! It was a lap around the Capitol complex, which is actually pretty long. Anyways, I walked to the Kanawha Boulevard from the Capitol to do my run. Running on the Blvd is so amazing and beautiful. The Blvd is a stretch that runs from the eastern end of Charleston (past where the Capitol is) to the west end of Charleston at Patrick Street. A running marker to start at is the 35th Street Bridge. Once you reach the west end, you go over a bridge to the other side of the river into South Charleston and end up on MacCorkle Ave. This ends up being a 4 mile run from point to point. From there you can either run the other side of river back to Kanawha City, or you can continue into South Charleston.

Anyways, the river route is amzing. Here's a picture of part of the run:

photo courtesy of http://family-images.com/wv/index1.htm

The State Capitol is that little blob in the upper right on the left side of the river right above all those trees. This view shows about 2 miles of the Blvd. I think this is a fairly old picture, as things on the right of the river don't look nearly as developed as they are now. I will have to find a newer picture for you guys. But, anyways you get the idea of how pretty this run can be!

So, I felt good most of the run, till about mile 5, then I was struggling with it. I stopped at a couple water fountains for a few seconds to refill my little water bottle. I was going to make it! I started looking for the big green Greenbrier Street interstate sign. Greenbrier street was my final destination. About 1/2 mile out I could see the sign. A sigh of relief!! But this last 1/2 mile was really testing me. I passed someone I knew walking her dog and shouted "hi" at her. Almost there....1/4 mile left. I'm thinking, "come on, Tammy, you can do it". Elizabeth street. Just one block away! When I finished my lungs felt like they were going to explode. I was panting. So much for an easy run. I have no idea what pace I was going at the end....I started off at a very comfortable pace...probably around an 11 minute per mile pace. I'm not sure if I sped up or was just not in shape enough for that long of a run. I am waiting for my Garmin Forerunner 405 watch to come in, then pace won't be a question. I staggered back to the Capitol, collapsed under a tree and stretched for a few minutes. Then I staggered to my car, stopped at 7-11 and got a G2, and went home to rest.

Next run: Tuesday - Easy run, 2 miles