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Gloriously long run

February 17, 2019 (Afternoon)

Exercise Type: Run

Comments:
Started this run from the airport and went out to explore the neighborhoods I never get to see. Dobrinja, the former Olympic village, turned out to be lovely, and I the sunny weather and the style of the rooves reminded me of California. Started heading up that road that curves around Trebavic but turned off at the last possible exit and went down into a little village wedged into the foot of the mountains. The run was pretty slow up to this point and I was feeling quite sluggish even on the downhills and the flats. After about 10 miles I decided I wanted to try doing a tempo piece like we always do on our marathon training long runs with the BAA. As I navigated my way between the Butmir EU/NATO base and the back of the airport. Somehow commiting myself to a tempo immeidately snapped me out of the slum I'd been in the past 2 hours and my body and spirit magically revived. I originally committed to going hard for 36 minutes (6 miles) but kept extending it every time I got close to finishing until my marathon race pace tempo had stretched into a full hour. Jogged the last couple miles through downtown and Stari Grad feeling weary but absolutely triumphant. The run, in fact, was 5 miles longer than I'd originally intended, securing me a dazzling 91 miles for the week.