My run, that is. But before I get to today's felonious activity, let me catch you up on the past week.
After last week's relative cutback recovery from Surf City, I was primed to hit another 50 mile week. 7 on Tuesday and 7 on Wednesday were fine, but I got a minor cold on Thursday so I took the day off. Luckily it passed pretty quickly so by Friday night I was up for getting out there again and knocked off a solid 9 on rolling hills. So then I took off Saturday, so I would be ready for a solid 21 miles today. So 44+ for the week - I'll take it.
So today's plan was 21+ miles at the beach - almost flat. 4 weeks ago I did 20.6 on this course and somehow averaged 8:07 and 7:52 for the last 14 miles. That is under marathon pace. Today I thought about forcing myself to go slower, but I think I've given up on the whole LSD plan. I run how I feel, and that usually means I end up going fast. My relaxed pace has just gotten faster and faster. So I would relax and just run, but I assumed it would be similar to last time - fast.
Temps in the high 50's and sunny. Shorts and a tank top. Two GUs in my belt. Off we go.
First 6 were on the woodchip trail. Cruising along, I did my usual gradual acceleration as I warmed up. 9:04, 8:36, 8:32, 8:21, 8:06, 8:17. Average 8:29
Hit the beach and the pace picked up. 7:59, 7:56, 7:52, 7:45.
Now, my BQ pace is 8:00. My marathon goal is to do 8:15 - 8:00 for the first 6 and then 7:50 for the rest of the way, or as long as I can. I think I can aim for 3:25. Long run training strategy is usually not to run marathon pace. Certainly not faster. But I get into a groove, and it is just very hard to slow down. And then I want to see if I can hold the pace the whole way. So anyway, this happened:
7:40, 7:40, 7:41, 7:38, 7:34, 7:38, 7:45, 7:36, 7:40, 7:39, 7:38
Yes, the last 11 miles averaged 7:39. I killed it. 21.2 miles with an overall average of 7:56, or under BQ pace. Could I have done 5 more miles at 8:00 pace? Well, I believe I could have! Can't wait for the race to hurry up and get here so I can get a full taper, suck in the race time energy, and blow it up! Four more weeks!
My main concern now is holding myself back. I can see running 7:30 pace early in the race and not being able to slow down. Yet I worry about those last 5 miles, so I will try to restrain myself. The last mile today I was hitting the wall and it took some extra effort to keep the pace low, but it was good to not see a bonk. Even when I felt like I was fading, my pace didn't really get any slower.
So I am about to get a celebratory giant burger, and then probably a nap. Two more solid weeks of mileage coming up and then the taper.
Time to dance.
After last week's relative cutback recovery from Surf City, I was primed to hit another 50 mile week. 7 on Tuesday and 7 on Wednesday were fine, but I got a minor cold on Thursday so I took the day off. Luckily it passed pretty quickly so by Friday night I was up for getting out there again and knocked off a solid 9 on rolling hills. So then I took off Saturday, so I would be ready for a solid 21 miles today. So 44+ for the week - I'll take it.
So today's plan was 21+ miles at the beach - almost flat. 4 weeks ago I did 20.6 on this course and somehow averaged 8:07 and 7:52 for the last 14 miles. That is under marathon pace. Today I thought about forcing myself to go slower, but I think I've given up on the whole LSD plan. I run how I feel, and that usually means I end up going fast. My relaxed pace has just gotten faster and faster. So I would relax and just run, but I assumed it would be similar to last time - fast.
Temps in the high 50's and sunny. Shorts and a tank top. Two GUs in my belt. Off we go.
First 6 were on the woodchip trail. Cruising along, I did my usual gradual acceleration as I warmed up. 9:04, 8:36, 8:32, 8:21, 8:06, 8:17. Average 8:29
Hit the beach and the pace picked up. 7:59, 7:56, 7:52, 7:45.
Now, my BQ pace is 8:00. My marathon goal is to do 8:15 - 8:00 for the first 6 and then 7:50 for the rest of the way, or as long as I can. I think I can aim for 3:25. Long run training strategy is usually not to run marathon pace. Certainly not faster. But I get into a groove, and it is just very hard to slow down. And then I want to see if I can hold the pace the whole way. So anyway, this happened:
7:40, 7:40, 7:41, 7:38, 7:34, 7:38, 7:45, 7:36, 7:40, 7:39, 7:38
Yes, the last 11 miles averaged 7:39. I killed it. 21.2 miles with an overall average of 7:56, or under BQ pace. Could I have done 5 more miles at 8:00 pace? Well, I believe I could have! Can't wait for the race to hurry up and get here so I can get a full taper, suck in the race time energy, and blow it up! Four more weeks!
My main concern now is holding myself back. I can see running 7:30 pace early in the race and not being able to slow down. Yet I worry about those last 5 miles, so I will try to restrain myself. The last mile today I was hitting the wall and it took some extra effort to keep the pace low, but it was good to not see a bonk. Even when I felt like I was fading, my pace didn't really get any slower.
So I am about to get a celebratory giant burger, and then probably a nap. Two more solid weeks of mileage coming up and then the taper.
Time to dance.
Great work, Bangle! Nice and progressive. :)
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