Run 2:01:00 [3] 21.2 km (5:42 / km)
Christmas morning long run down on the Peninsula, shifted a bit earlier than usual because certain smaller members of the household were unlikely to be able to wait too long to get stuck into the presents (in fact I was surprised they lasted until 8). More awake than has usually been the case for a 6am start in recent times. With Jim for the first hour and a bit, out to Sorrento and then along the back beach track, a much favoured venue of mine - occasionally sandy but mostly a decent surface, and lots of small ups and downs. (It was high tide so not a good morning for the Portsea beach). He cut back when we were opposite Blairgowrie again while I continued on to Number Sixteen (looking for a bit of extra distance to get the projected length out to two hours, I actually went out to the beach at Number Sixteen - something I've not done before despite the many times I've used the track end at its car park as an endpoint). Hit a very nice rhythm climbing out of Pearse's Beach and held it for most of the last 40 minutes of the run, turning it into my best long run of the second half of the year - certainly the first one since the nationals where I've finished something in the 2-hour range not feeling as if I was just hanging on (and not just because there was no Hawdon Street involved in the last 500 metres this time). The last kilometre was the fastest, always a good sign.
This is the sixth consecutive Christmas Day where I've gone 2 hours-plus, either running or riding. It's one way of creating room for the feasting for the remainder of the day.