Sunday, November 12, 2006

Firing on All Cylinders

Ran 10.2 miles @ 7:01/mile pace. Paved Roads, Large Hills.

Whoa. I couldn't be happier with today's run. I wanted to set out on a quicker pace but didn't expect to hold it. Little did I know my first mile split, which for me was already pretty quick, would be my slowest one.

This route was my "Badwaterboro" Route (I start it at my house about a mile down the road from the start point listed here and it's slightly longer). It's very hilly, especially in the first 4.5 miles which is mostly uphill.

I shattered my previous course record with this run. The old one was 1:16:34. The new one is 1:11:34, an even five minutes faster. Woohoo! What's even better is that I felt great throughout. I never struggled and simply felt strong.

While this is great, I need to start having more training runs like this if I plan to BQ in the Hyannis Marathon in late February. I need a 7:17/mile pace or better to qualify for Boston, and if I'm going to do that, these types of runs should happen more often. But I'll relish in this for a little while and know what I have to shoot for.

Splits:

Mile 1: 7:16 Warm up, slight uphill.
Mile 2: 7:08 All uphill
Mile 3: 7:01 All uphill
Mile 4: 7:10 Mostly uphill. Highest part of ridge here.
Mile 5: 7:04 Enjoying the downhill. Saw four turkeys crossing the road here.
Mile 6: 7:11 Mostly Uphill again.
Mile 7: 7:05 Mostly downhill.
Mile 8: 6:50 Pretty flat.
Mile 9: 6:57 Pretty flat.
Mile 10: 6:39 Slightly rolling hills.
Last .2: 6:19/mile pace. Flat.

Tomorrow is normally a rest day, but I may opt to do a short recovery run and take a rest day later in the week. I had enough rest days last week because of the knee.

I've also registered for a 5K race a week from today. I hope to break my PR of 19:33 (set last May), and would love to go sub-19. We'll see.

2 comments:

Love2Run said...

Looks like a tough course. You should do well in the 5k with your big base mileage. Good luck!

UMaine Cooperative Extension said...

Great run! I would think that a sub-19 next week is within reach.