So, this morning was the "race."
Starting off...FWIW, I know this wasn't as big a deal as a marathon or a race weekend, but it was the culmination of 14 weeks of training and a benchmark for how I'm progressing with speed, health and overall fitness, so I was excited to see how things turned out. Anyway, here we go...
To warm up, I got dressed and jogged about half a mile to where I wanted to start. It was right on the other side of an intersection that is ALWAYS busy and I didn't want to run half a mile then have to wait for 2 minutes to resume my run.
My plan was to run what I thought was basically a six mile loop that would avoid most major intersections in the city and allow me to run uninterrupted. The weather was kind of dreary, but warm enough (mid-40s) and it wasn't raining, so I figured I'd be in good shape there.
Note: I know this goes against DopeyBadger's training, but I did get audio time updates at each mile, so I did have a sense of where I was at throughout this race, pace-wise. I used that to gauge throughout the run the likelihood of hitting my PR (51:17 - set in Dec. 2015).
Mile 1: 6:45. HOLY SMOKES! I knew right after the first mile that I had hit a PR for the mile, likely a lifetime PR. I also that was unsustainable and I was worried what that'd do to me in the long run. Happy that I had more than minute "baked in" to my PR effort, I soldiered on.
Mile 2: 7:09. I knew Mile 3 would be a climb and I knew I wouldn't maintain my first mile pace for long, but I tried to keep it up to the best of my ability, especially while the course was flat.
Mile 3: 7:46. This one was a drag. It felt long and it had what I knew going in would be the steepest climb of the run. I made the mistake of checking my distance, expecting it to be almost 3 miles and it was only 2.6. UGH. Once I reached the top of the hill, though, I knew I was in pretty good shape and when I hit the halfway point with almost 3 minutes of cushion baked in, I figured I had a good shot at a PR.
Mile 4: 7:26. No big climbs and I gained a little speed. I grew increasingly confident a PR was going to happen, but I also dealt with some side splits and this portion was really wet. Lots of puddles. Not enough to affect my pace, just had to avoid getting soggy.
Mile 5: 7:26. I knew at this point I was going to PR unless I completely broke down. I had enough of a lead on my PR pace that I could do something close to a 10-minute mile the last two miles and still - barely - PR. The side splits got to me a little bit and I was breathing pretty hard, but still moving at a good pace.
Mile 6: 7:45. The last mile was a slog, especially at about 5.5, when I pivoted and turned back for the final .7 miles (my 6-mile loop was actually only about 5 miles, so I doubled up on a bit). That brief moment of stopping and turning back took the wind right out of my sails. Fortunately. I recovered quickly and was chugging along again. I also think I weirded out some guy who walked out his front door to hear me giving myself my "I'm a marathoner" pep talk. I just waved and kept going.
The last .2 miles were run at the 7:45/mile pace. I ran just a bit beyond the 6.2-mile mark, just to make sure. The time on my phone read 46:14.
10K PR!!!!
It wasn't until I got home and looked at my readout that I broke or got close to breaking 7 PRs on Strava (which, granted, I've only been using since October, but I never did any speed work before this, so I'm confident in these PRs):
1/2-mile 3:20 (second best)
1K - 4:09 (PR)
1 mile - 6:45 (PR)
2 miles - 13:55 (PR)
5K - 22:27 (PR)
10K - 46:01 (PR) Previous PR - 51:17
So, I beat my last 10K time by more than five minutes, which I'm so stoked about. I've said several times throughout this training session that I've felt better than ever. Going into this, I kept my training to only three days a week, which I felt was all my body could handle after a stress fracture in my foot and some knee issues. I never would have guessed that I'd be not only running five days a week, but that I'd get stronger and faster, too.
Ultimately, the goal is to PR a marathon, so a 6:45 mile doesn't mean much because I know I'm not doing that over 26 miles. But, I'm really happy with the improvements I've seen.
I want to publically thank
@DopeyBadger for taking my feedback and goals, writing me this plan and encouraging me throughout the training. He has definitely brought out the best in me.
Now, onto the marathon...
Today's Distance: 6.2 miles
Avg. Pace: 7:24/mile
Time: 46 minutes
Miles this week: 24.3
Miles this year: 85