It somehow gets colder

I again slept in, hoping the conditions would be better later in the morning for my "long run." Since college, I have had trouble considering anything lasting less than 90 minutes to be a long run, but at this point, building my base from very little mileage in late October, running 12 seems pretty good. I technically had run that far a few weeks ago, when I went from my Mall run with Melissa to join the other group ad hoc, but I ran with a little more intensity this time. I waited until after watching the Steelers game with the O'Haras, so it was pretty much dark at that point, but it didn't bother me too much.

I mapped out a course that was exactly 12 miles, adding onto the Woodley 8, but it being dark and adding some turns in a part of town that doesn't present street signs prominently, I wound up taking a wrong turn, which I realized quickly, which caused me some distress, wondering how much it would affect the measurement. In the end, it added .1 miles, and I was happy enough with the result. The only issue was some intense abdominal cramping around mile 10, which coincided with another new stretch for me- Idylwood Road. I had no idea how close I was to the turn onto Leesburg Pike, so I lost some focus there, but I wound up averaging 6:26 for the 12.1 miles.

The temperature, 22 with a 1 degree windchill, wasn't that bad. The wind was bad as I crossed Leesburg Pike, so much that it nearly pushed me over, but after that I just kept going. I was nice to finish, though, and get ready to be warm and asleep.