Father's Day "Half Marathon"

I woke up in a tent yesterday to the sound of a light rain. It dwindled quickly, but it was 4:50 a.m. and I was awake. Might as well do a Father's Day long run on some hilly WI back roads!

My route looked like this, with half mile splits noted:

I ran 3.5 miles easier, then turned around and came back (and ran past) for 6 miles harder, and then tacked on 4+ miles at an easy/moderate pace to hit 13.40 miles in 1:33:00. That's 6:56 pace overall, and I did the 6 harder miles in 38:08 (6:21.3 pace). So on that map above, I ran hard from split #7 through turning around at split #19.

Some hills! My long runs are usually 250-280 feet of
elevation change, and this run was 750 feet... 3x hillier!


The "hard miles" highlighted. It's no wonder they started faster!

I did a generic long run in WI in 2022 which was shorter, but the middle 6 "hard miles" were at 6:20 pace.

Then in 2023, I ran 13.22 miles with the middle "hard miles" at 6:24 pace. This was the year I hit the most hills - 889 feet of elevation change!

And then in 2024, I ran 13.37 miles with the middle "hard miles" again at 6:24 pace.

So this was the 3rd year in a row of at least a half marathon distance run on Father's Day, with the distance getting a little longer each year! I felt pretty neutral about my pace this year, but the good news was that it didn't hurt too bad. And last year's overall pace was a bit better (13.37 in 1:32:11 [6:54 pace] compared to this year's 13.40 in 1:33:00 [6:58 pace]), but I noted in my training log last year that I kept it "moderate" after the hard miles, whereas this year I ran more easy/moderate.

Nothing fancy, but just a fun way to get in a half-marathon-distance long run!

My boys and nephews at the campgrounds!

Back with more camping pics shortly!