For my long run this week, I decided to take the Shore Road path from Bay Ridge to as far as it would get me towards Coney Island, then switch to the streets to get all the way there. It was great to have new scenery, and the run felt good and went by quickly.

Splits-wise, I was right on track. Average pace was 8:44, and most of my miles were within about 10 seconds of this pace– nothing too fast (not even mile 2!). That is an unheard-of level of consistency for me.  There were a couple of 9+ plus miles, when I was navigating the boardwalk and the streets leading back to the trail, but all in all, each mile was within the 90 seconds of my marathon pace I was shooting for. The only downer about the whole run was getting splashed with gutter water by a minivan on Cropsey just after I reached Coney Island.

Kelly met up with me about 2 miles before I finished so we could go get bagels from 5-Star together, and we finished running just in time to be caught in a downpouer. Literally at 12.96 miles, the sky opened up and ruined most people’s day. Once I finished, we found shelter and waited fo a bus that took us to the bagel shop. Delicious.

I was already soaked with sweat before the rain came down, and my feet were sloshing in my shoes. I’ve never had this much of a foot-sweat problem, so I’m hoping it’s not my newish shoes. I have no complaints about them or the toe-socks otherwise. Not a single blister since I started using them.

Also, today was one of my safest runs– the Road ID that mom bought me arrived yesterday and I broke it in today. Let’s hope I never need it. Getting ready for the run last night, I laid out all my gear, and realized how much stuff I have when I run. I’ll post a breakdown of this soon; it’s kind of funny how much I take with me… I always think of running as this free-and-easy, no-equipment-required sport, but I’m loaded down with junk on these long runs.