The long run back...

My running group was back on the Boardwalk this morning. For most of us this morning's run was a recovery long run (6 miles); but for the few brave souls that are going to be running the Ft Lauderdale A1A Marathon in February the goal was 10 miles. The weather was absolutely AMAZING (perfect for a long run of any distance)...

plus we didn't have to deal with it being windy which made it even better.

On Sunday mornings my running group meets by this Gazebo, which was all lit up and ready for Christmas this morning...

The sunrise...

My initial plan was to do 8 miles this morning. I had even gone as far as to put it on my training calendar (because once it's in print it's official). But instead I ended up doing a 7 mile run. I started out running with my 4:1 group for 6 miles, and then I did 1 mile by myself. I probably could have pushed myself to do 8 miles but I didn't...

The breakdown (pace-wise)...

As you can see from the pace breakdown this was a slow and relatively steady recovery run

After my run I decided to get a Jamba Juice smoothie...

As the year winds down I'm trying to get a structured plan in place for 2015. I know that the next few months will be uncomfortable for me (voluntarily so) as I try to push myself a little bit more and more with each run. My mid-week runs will need to be longer and of a much higher quality, and my long runs will need to be longer (much longer) with my minimum LRs in the double digits (except for my taper and recovery long runs...those will be 8 miles up until March 1st. After the Miami Beach half marathon all my LRs will be double digits). To get better and stronger I will need to learn to run (safely) outside my comfort zone...

I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to join my running group's full marathon training sub-group, or just try and complete the extra mileage on my own. I know I need to be careful not to do too much too soon (that's how I got injured the last time), but I definitely need to be training harder than I have been.  

The rest of my Sunday is dedicated to Christmas shopping and other "fun" errands...

Have you finished your Christmas/Holiday shopping yet? Have you started??