I just finished my long run today.  It is at least 6.5 miles, and guess what…I ran over my first hill today.  The reason this is a momentous event is that where I live it is very flat, but the route I took today got me running over a freeway overpass.  It gave me about a 1/10 mile uphill run.  I actually felt pretty good going up that hill.

The nike+ sensor/pedometer I was using said that I ran 6.97 miles for the entire route; but I know that as I as get tired my stride tends to get a bit shorter; that is why I think the run is around 6.5 miles.  So my pace is probably about 9:15 minutes/mile since it took me just about 1 hour to finish the run.

Based on this run, I think I should be able to maintain this pace for a long time.  So this might be my marathon pace. 

Next week, my long run will be 8 miles–week 10 of the 26-week training plan.  This will be a challenge since I will be on a cruise during the week.  As you know eating is the main activity on most cruises.