It doesn't take a lot to get me fired up about training, but sometimes the timing is just right. Like two summers ago it was a combination of Jim Johnson's blog and Bob Wiles' explanation of how many extra miles a year he could get by adding morning runs.
Now, reading about Eric MacKnight's 11 mile run at 5:50-something pace has been stuck in my mind. Today, we got home from church a little late (11:30) and Ben had a piano recital at 1:00, so the window was small for a ten-mile run.
Normally, I know that if I give myself 70 minutes to cover my 10 mile loop (which is closer to 10 and a quarter miles), I usually can finish faster than that, but today, by the time I got out the door, it was 11:46, and I knew that I would have to be closer to 60 minutes to have time to shower and run across the street to Ben's recital.
I went through mile one in 6:01, and felt good. The first mile is mostly uphill and tends to be one of my slower ones, so that is a quick start. The two-mile split was 11:51, and then the next few miles are pretty flat. Mile 3 was 17:34 (5:43). Mile 4 was 23:26 (5:52). Mile 5 (a little under halfway) was 29:10 (5:44). Mile 6 was 34:58 (5:48). The last four plus miles home are a series of little hills, with more ups than downs, and I have to work a little harder to maintain pace. I have run this loop many times, though, and usually knowing that I am closing in on the homestead makes it easier to keep dropping the pace.
Came through 7 miles in 40:43 (5:45), 8 miles in 46:23 (5:40), 9 miles in 52:04 (5:41).
10-mile split was 57:35 (5:31). Finished up in 58:37 for 10.22. Pretty sure this is the fastest 10-mile training run I've ever done (5:44 pace for 10.22). Sometimes it's nice not having enough time to "enjoy" your run.
This was in the fastwitches.
Oh yeah, and with about a half mile left 'til home, a woman went by me on her bike and said "fifteen miles per hour"; I appreciated the inaccurate encouragement and gasped a "not quite, but, thanks!"
Then I tried to imagine that I was running the last quarter mile of a fall marathon in 60 seconds. I'll settle for the last .2 in 60 seconds.
Glad I can be that motivation sometimes. My run was in the fastwitches as well. I have the bright yellow ones. Solid training run! Your blog keeps me motivated when I see you pounding out the mileage day after day.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Eric!
ReplyDeleteI thought I commented on your blog after your eleven miler, but it must have disappeared when I tried to publish?
Enjoy your foray into mountain running. Are you running Mt. Washington?
Yeah I don't see a comment on it. Yeah, Mt. Washington and the rest of the series plus Loon. Trying something different to toughen myself up for the next marathon. Sleepy Hollow was fun, but need to race smarter.
ReplyDeleteAre you doing Washington?