Training Run: 25 miles on North Park loop

Preview:

Who says too much, too soon? Ha! My longest run to date hasn't exceeded 18 total miles, which is bothersome enough for me at this point. But North Park, Allegheny County has a very nice paved running loop that follows the roads that circulate the lake. Each lap is a tick over five miles. My last run there was 15 miles, a month ago, in 2:41.

In summary, having built up some strength running hills in my first couple of trail runs over the last month, I should be able to negotiate all five laps without much difficulty, which is my main goal. One month from today, I will run my first race ever, which will be the full Marshall Marathon in WV. And although I prefer off-road running, the best western PA ultrarunners eat marathons for breakfast, so to speak. The proof's in the pudding, so I'm just following suit!

Result: DNF 5 miles / 50 mins. Decided to call it quits early as I could feel the 2nd metatarsal overload coming back in my left foot. I've decided to go back to the drawing board, as I've noticed my left foot is under-strengthened compared to my right. I will augment my style to match and see if it helps. Otherwise, I can expect this problem to continue.