Bay St.Louis long run

This weekend we got to enjoy some time with our godchildren in Bay St. Louis. They are in the process of moving further away from us, so any chance we get to visit before they permanently settle very far away is an opportunity to take advantage of.

Godmother-goddaughter lunch

When I mentioned my plans to some members in my running group, one of the guys, Mike, said he'd be at the bay himself Saturday. He actually has a house out there, and he runs long there almost every week. Since he already has a regular 15 mile route, we decided to meet up sort of halfway between our places, and then continue on to his route. We estimated that would get us the 17 and 18 miles he and I needed, respectively.

I think this is the longest run I've done in Bay St. Louis: 18 miles. I was worried about bonking, because last week, I had a bad bonk on a 16 miler after getting off a plane a few hours before. But the company was great, and our route along Beach road was beautiful. We turned just in time to see the sunrise over the bay. Before the sun rose, I was also lucky enough to surprise a coyote! The wind was favorable to mask my approach, and I got right up close before he saw me, froze, and bolted. Speaking of wind, that's the only real drawback to a long run on the water: lots of wind!

Like most of our group long runs, this one started at easy pace, but included a workout or fast finish. Saturday was 5 easy, middle steady with slight negative split down to aerobic pace, last four aerobic pace cutting down to marathon pace. As it turned out, the route brought us to the Bay Bridge to do four of the last five miles with inclines. But it actually wasn't bad. I finished with 7:15, 7:12, 7:05, 6:57, and 7:00. Mike dropped back once I started to pick it up, but he didn't lose contact, and he wrapped up his 17 miles at the fastest pace he's ever completed a long run (his marathon time goal is actually 2:55 so I am not at all worried about leading him to complete a long run too fast!).

My goddaughter wanted to take a post-run picture
for Instagram, but kept begging me to "look more tired"! Ha! 

I was happy with my strong finish, and I really felt great at the end, not at all tired, so I hope that means that my early bonk was just a product of jet lag.

Do you stick to long, slow distance for long runs, or incorporate speed work or fast finishes?