Long Run???

So I did my first legit "long" run. Why is "long" in quotes? Because the run was only 7 miles, which is a distance that I used to laugh at if someone had told me it was "long." But here I am at 39 and I'm very willing to call it long. My text message to Eric went something like this: ran 7 today, felt like 14.

Here are the stats on the run:

81 degrees
7 miles
68:27
quality of run 6/10

I was lucky enough to run it with my new found running partner Brice Moorman. He's looking to do 4:30 at the Rock 'n' Roll and I'm hoping I can keep up with him at this point. He did 9 last weekend while I golfed...bad Mike. We did our run around the fountain (see picture), which is the focal point for our little community of Fountain Hills. Yep, the guys who founded this place sure were original when they named it.

But back to the "long" run. Brice told me that he had taken precautions to ensure that no chaffing occured, to which I laughed a little. Precautions??? For a 7 mile run??? you have to be kidding. Alas, he was correct and now I have painful reminders of my age and shape. I'll be more careful next week.

Soon I'll be posting what my long runs are going to look like for the remaining 23 weeks for the marathon.

Oh, one final note, Shannon officially killed my Timex Ironman watch. I tried to revive it, but it's not firing on all cylinders. Oh, Oh, I also got a new pair of shoes (Saucony Grid Stratos 2) and a hydration pack. Reviews will be forthcoming.

Now get back to work!