Starting "long" runs again

Tuesday Pete worked from home so Elle and I ended up going to lunch with him and two of his work buddies. We went to the little restaurant up in The Avenues that I'd never eaten at, but that I've stopped at several times on my long runs. I love that place for having such nice bathrooms, and never getting mad at me for using them as a non-customer! Being up there made me want to do a long run in The Avenues again so I planned to do that on Friday. That day I had already planned a bike ride up City Creek Canyon, which I did and it was BEAUTIFUL!

I didn't get around to doing the long run on Friday, but I squeezed it in on Saturday. I just carried a little flask in each hand, one with hammer gel, the other with water, and headed up 2nd Avenue. I ran until I got to 35 minutes, then turned around. I made it to K Street. I might have gone a little longer, but I didn't have time.

There are some pretty steep hills to get up on that street, and it was pretty hard. Coming down was really fun, though! I took the gel and water just after I turned around. Next time I'll have to just bring the fuel belt, though, because it wasn't quite enough water on such a warm day. Or maybe I'll buy one of those water bottles that strap to your hand....

I got home, and of course didn't look at my watch right away. After I'd stretched a little and started walking inside, I looked and it said 1:12 so I'm pretty sure I made it home by 1:10. I got onto google maps to see how far I'd gone in that time (hoping for at least 7), and it was exactly 7 miles! So I averaged 10-minute miles for my long run with some hard hills. That's fine. I do want to get faster, but I don't need to push it on my long runs, that's what my speed workouts are for. Right?

I act like I know what I'm doing here, but I really know nothing. We'll see how it goes. :)