Successful Saturday

I went to the Y on Saturday and ran 15 miles on the treadmill.  It was one of those runs where everything clicks.  I felt as fresh after 10 miles as I did when I started.  I used the Hammer Chocolate gel at mile 5.  It tasted like a thick chocolate pudding.  I enjoyed it.  I really noticed it kick in towards the end of mile 7--all of a sudden, I became really alert and felt good.  I used another Hammer Unflavored gel at mile 10.  I thought it tasted like a muted vanilla.  It was also good and took about 18 minutes to kick in.  As far as the gels go, I'll be getting more of the Hammer Chocolate ones for future runs.
This was one of those days where I felt like I could have kept running forever.  I only stopped because of time constraints.  After 15 miles, I still felt really good.  I ran the first 10 miles at 9:40 per mile.  For miles 11 and 12, I increased the pace to 9:22 per mile.  Miles 13-14 were back at 9:40 pace.  I finished the last mile in 9:30.  I ran the entire 15 miles without stopping.  I'm hoping to be able to run 30 miles without stopping.  When I can do that, I think I'll be ready for a 50 mile race.

The achilles tendon flared up a couple times in the first 8 miles, but I made adjustments and it stayed calm for most of the run.  I'm using Kinesio Tex Tape on my balky achilles.  It's too early to tell if it really works, but so far the results are good.  My achilles feels better than it has in quite a while.  It was a little tender after the run, but not the usual piano wire tautness I've been used to. 

I'm thinking about doing some 200 meter repeats during the week, but that'll depend on my schedule.  I'm not sure how much time I'll have because my Master's program begins Monday.  Like everything else, I'll adapt and figure something out.