Excellent pace run
This morning we had one of the crucial workouts for the marathon. It was the pace run on the ten-mile loop. The official plan was to run the first two miles calmly to warm up and then run the rest at race pace. Gilbert had told me a seemingly silly time to try to reach a couple days ago, but I was surprisingly close.
I wanted to run by feel, so I made it a point not to look at the watch. I checked myself by mentally putting myself in the marathon and thinking about how much of that I had left to go. Anyway, I got caught up in the moment and went a little faster than planned on the warm-up, but I felt all right, so it was no big deal. After two miles, I turned it up a notch and just ran. I was all by myself then for the rest of the run. Every time my mind wandered, I just commanded it to return to the present. There are no excuses. To hit my goals, I just have to do what it takes. There were two water stops on the course, with 5 miles to go and about 2.5 to go, and since I was by myself they were pretty quick.
My splits were:
- 7:45
- 7:38
- 6:59
- 6:54
- 6:45
- 7:38
- 7:11
- 7:31
- 7:16
- 6:50
- 1:42 (0.25 miles)
That’s a pretty strong run. That’s where I want my speed to be, and I was fast at the end ofthe run. My heart rate numbers were very reasonable, so this is a real confidence builder. I did a bunch of strides at the end, and I left with my legs feeling really good.