Thursday, August 06, 2009

Sweet 6:16

Today I ran marathon simulation #1 and it went very well.  I woke up motivated and felt great.  Even the soreness from Monday’s core work had subsided.  The plan was 20 miles with the first ten at an easier aerobic effort and then bring the pace up to ‘race pace’ effort for the final 10.

 

The first half went great.  I felt strong, easy, and relaxed.  It was a slight progression as I warmed up and got into the groove.  Split 1:04:19 (6:26 pace).  On the 2nd half I added a little spice to the pace and got on board.  A more focused effort and the relaxation was hard to come by at first – but I blame this on an uphill 11th mile (~6:25).  The next mile (my favorite mile 12) cruised through in 5:45 and then I had to work a little to gain the top of mile 13 (6:25?).  Mile 14 was just over 6:00 and mile 15 slipped under at 5:58.

 

Approaching mile 16 the endorphins kicked in and I knew it was coming.  First, the discomfort in my legs faded away and then I started feeling fresh.  And that old euphoric feeling went into high gear.  I passed mile 16 in 5:58 feeling on top of the world.  This helped with the uphill mile 17 in 6:15 and I was slightly over 6:00 for mile 18.

 

And then I entered the “two mile bubble” - where there are just two miles left.  The confidence returns and I usually start feeling good again.  Uphill to mile 19 in 5:59 and finished with a final mile of 5:49.  Second half split: 1:00:44 (6:05 pace).

 

Total time: 2:05:03 (6:16 average).  A brief moment of HOK when I finished then I sat down and drank a bottle of water.  After that, I refilled the bottle and walked my recovery.  Feeling good about this one.

 

5 Comments:

Blogger Thomas said...

While that workout happens to be an old favourite of mine (there is one in my near future), I'd be happy to run it 45 seconds per mile slower than you.

Outstanding!

8/06/2009 10:47 AM  
Blogger Grellan said...

Sweet run indeed. Not much between the easier aerobic pace of 6:26 and the MP effort of 6:05. I'd take a minute per mile slower.

2:40 will be some marathon PB.

8/06/2009 6:25 PM  
Blogger Trevor said...

Wow! You're shaping nicely up for a great finishing time in October.

8/06/2009 6:25 PM  
Blogger Ewen said...

That's quick - especially the second 10 miles.

How come your marathon PB is only 2:57? I'm with Grellan - something around 2:40 for sure.

8/07/2009 6:02 AM  
Blogger Lindsay said...

jaw dropping as always. almost a sub-60 2nd half of a 20 miler, just nuts. heck i'd take 1:30/mile slower!

8/07/2009 10:44 AM  

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