Long Run On A Crisp October Morning

I swear - I thought it was early October this morning.  Or that perhaps I was back in Ann Arbor for the summer.

I stepped out of the door at 7am this morning (yes...later than I wanted to start my run, but I got to bed later than planned due to watching the Olympics Opening Ceremonies), and the air was crisp with very little humidity.  Later on I looked on line to see that the temperature was in the low 60s.  The sun was shining.  There was a slight breeze.  It was a delicious morning.

Is it really still August in the Washington, DC suburbs?

I went out for the same 9 mile run that I did last weekend.  Home to Olde Town Gaithersburg and then home again along a different route.  Today I ran the route a little over 4 minutes faster.  It could have been the weather - no rain today and awesome conditions for a run.  It also could be that the training has made me a stronger, faster runner.  Probably a little of both.

I ran the 9 mile route at a 10:38/mile pace with an average HR of 154.  I believe that if you take the last mile and a half out, my average HR would have been under 150 - there were some hills at the end and I didn't want to slow down my stride in the home stretch.

I ran to music today - I started with an album I just downloaded from iTunes Music Store called Pedalsped.  I heard the track "Stretch" on a YouTube video that was posted over on Pigtails Flying's blog.  I couldn't get the song out of my head for two days, so I had to purchase it.  They sound kind of like a fusion of Coldplay and Guster.  I like it so far.  Take a listen...download "Stretch" - it's a great song!