Right now, I'm running fast once a week, but everything is just a test to see where I'm at. I took a much needed complete rest day yesterday. I would've biked 10 miles, but it was just too damn windy. This week's weather is going to suck, so I might not ride much.
I wanted to run hard on Tuesday, but the forecast is for very cold and windy. I decided that I would change it up and run today in better weather. I wanted to go out in the afternoon, but after a nap, I felt terrible. I headed out to the Nor-Bath Trail after dark.
I started from the one neighborhood. This is good because I can park along the street. About a quarter mile into the run, there's a road crossing, but that is no big deal. The first mile was a warmup anyway.
The plan was to run a 10K and see what kind of pace I could sustain. Since my goal for my next marathon (whenever that actually is) is a 6:51 pace, I really wanted to be able to run that pace. Anything under 7 minutes would be good though. I've run long and slow and short and fast, but I haven't figured out where I stand in the middle ground yet.
It is funny because I actually hate running really fast, but I look forward to really short and fast repeats like half mile repeats, much more than runs like this. Even though a 10K is slower, it is still hard and for a longer stretch. I really enjoy the recovery time during repeats.
I guess going downhill helped, but initially the legs felt awesome. The warmup almost always tells me whether it'll be a good day or not. It sure felt like it on this day. By the end of this mile, I was really cruising.
I took off hard, but not too hard. My breathing was laboring a little, but I felt like this was a solid pace. I opened with a 6:48 first fast mile. That was right on target.
The road crossings are one of the big problems with this run. If you are focused on time, waiting for cars can really throw things off. It did as I got to Weaversville Road. Rather than wait for cars, I turned back around. Turning around throws off the momentum too though. I ran back about two tenths of a mile and then tried to cross the road again.
This time, I made it across. There was a car, but I only had to slow slightly for it. The good news was that I only had to cross this road one more time and there would be no other road crossings. As I headed toward Bicentennial Park, I came through a section with a lot of leaves and it might've been slightly uphill too. My legs suddenly felt slower.
I just pushed on though. My breathing labored a little more and I wondered how I could hold this pace. I just kept at it though. Even with this tough section, I still ran this next mile at 6:49.
I went out to Airport Road and turned around. I wasn't through my third hard mile yet, but by now I was struggling. Maybe I should've started out a little slower because my breathing was a problem at this point. It didn't feel like an issue earlier on, but it obviously was now.
This mile was quite slow when compared to the others. It dropped to a 6:55. I thought I was slipping, but figured that I would keep going unless I really slipped up big time. Somewhere in this next mile, I developed a bad side sticker. Breathing was part of it, but not having enough of a break after dinner could've contributed as well. I tried to slow slightly and it seemed like it worked. My pace stayed pretty consistent. Maybe I was going downhill or maybe my form was better and my legs were strong. After bothering me a little earlier, the legs did seem to come around and felt great.
This fourth mile was 6:51. I was glad to see it back down to where I wanted to be. With two more hard miles to go, I just focused on running hard and trying to stay consistent. My breathing seemed to recover a little, although I was certainly still laboring.
Crossing Weaversville Road was clean this time. This section between Weaversville Road and Savage Road is just awesome. I don't know if it is because there is mostly soft dirt and little stone or if it is just flat, but it seems much faster. Even with the breathing trouble, I ran this fifth mile at 6:49.
Although I was feeling like crap and maybe working a little harder than I would've liked, my times were remaining consistent. That was a big boost. I could've just run 6 miles, but I wanted to do 6.2 miles to see if I could run under my 10K PR. It isn't that great of a time, since I haven't run many 10Ks. By now, I knew I was going to achieve this goal.
Part way through this last full hard mile, I turned around and headed back toward Weaversville Road. Now, I knew I was almost done and pushed and pushed. There was a farmer working in the dark to take down his corn. That made for a nice distraction. I came through this mile in a 6:44. Even though the breathing was laboring, I just battled.
I turned around and ran the final two tenths of the hard segment. I was heading toward my car. This last little bit was run at a 6:30 pace. One thing I'm learning how to do well is really finish runs. Even if I'm struggling some, I know I can go hard for a mile or two and actually run faster than I had been running.
I ended this fast segment and cooled down for 0.8 miles. That gave me a nice 8 miles in total. My time for the 10K segment was 42:14. That's a 6:48 pace. I was actually hoping I could run that pace with a little less effort than I did. That is because I was secretly hoping I could run this pace for an entire half marathon. The good news is that even though it felt hard, my pace wasn't falling at the end. My official 10K PR is 43:49, so I crushed that.
I guess with where I'm at, I'm going to run a half marathon this weekend. If I can run a little slower at the start, maybe a 7:00 pace or so for the first half, I might be able to run the final 10K at close to the pace that I did tonight. I feel like I could've put together a few more 6:51 miles tonight, but not much more. Unless I have an incredible day, I won't break 1:30 quite yet. I have a real good shot at breaking my PR of 1:33:11 though. It will be fun to see where I'm at. Maybe I'll even go after a 1:30 anyway. My endurance is certainly great and my legs could easily handle it. I just have to control my breathing.
Tomorrow, I'd like to run 10-12 miles. The weather could really dictate what I do. Whatever the case, this is going to be a relatively light week by my standards. I won't run or bike nearly as much as I usually do. I need some rest if I'm going to run the half marathon on Saturday.
8 miles - 57:40 (7:13 pace)
Fast 10K portion - 42:14 (6:48 pace)
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