Time: 8:00am
Route: Miami Shores to Downtown Miami
Distance: 13.29mi
Pace: 1hr 53 min l 8:34 min/mi
Shoes: Nike Zoom Fly 3
It's been roughly 2 weeks since the Miami Marathon and I have to admit...I've been itching to get a long run in.
The weather couldn't be more perfect for a long run down Biscayne to downtown. And quite honestly, it had been some time since I've ran this route due to the Marathon - I was ready.
I decided to lace up the Nike Zoom Fly 3 to get a better feel for how the shoe responds to longer runs. There's been some debate as to whether or not the shoe functions best as a racer or a trainer - from my experience, maybe a bit of both. The shoe does feature a carbon plate and Nike React foam throughout the midsole to give the shoe some added stiffness and "bounce." I've ran a few shorter runs (5-9 miles) in this shoe prior to today's long run and I absolutely loved it. However, I did feel that the shoe begins to feel heavy on the feet and legs after 10 miles or so.
Today's workout called for a 2 hour tempo run. I LOVE these runs. My coach has done an amazing job of breaking the long run down into parts that are a bit easier to mentally digest than just simply stating "go run for 2 hours."
The biggest improvement I've noticed thus far is that I am able to run either at the same pace or faster at lower heart rates as compared to previous long runs. At the end of the day, the long run (aka half marathon to marathon) is all about running efficiency - How far and fast can you go while maintaining a certain heart rate.
For an added bonus, I picked up a new Garmin to track my runs/rides: Garmin Forerunner 735xt with the run bundle.
One word: WOW! This watch does it all. GPS signals are readily available and the screen is extremely visible.
The run bundle comes with a chest strap that measures HR, run cadence, vertical oscillation, ground contact time, time balance, and stride length.
I was even more excited to run with my new toy and gather some data for future reference.
Needless to say, today was a GREAT day for a "first" long run.