Good tough long run today. The goal today was to run the first 10 miles at a pace that was moderately hard to put some fatigue on the legs but not blow-up and then pick it up for the last 6 miles to BQ pace. Everything worked out better than expected. Even the weather cooperated today giving us 83 degrees and a breeze so light that the trees didn't move but just enough that you could feel the benefit. With the last week of back problems I was worried this run might not go well but the back also felt "okay" today so I was good to go. Here are the paces for the first 10 miles: 8:00, 7:51, 8:00, 7:53, 7:55, 7:52, 7:56, 7:53, 7:44, 7:47. Those last two miles came in under my 7:50 threshhold for fast miles that is why I show 8 fast miles today. I was just getting anxious during those miles to really let it go. Here are the splits for the last 6 miles: 7:20, 7:21, 7:17, 7:20, 7:11, 7:18. I started to feel a little bit of fatigue kick in for the last couple of miles but was really able to focus and maintain the pace. I contemplated turning this run into a 20 miler because of all the favorable factors mentioned above but decided to be satisfied with meeting my goals for the day and save the 20 for next week. Hopefully it all comes together again next week for the big nasty.
Interesting side note: I decided on Friday night that I wanted to do this type of run so my mind was into it when I woke up today. I think preping mentally in advance gives you a huge psycological advantage in training, I know that's how it works with races.
Welcome to the Monster Month of training for SGM.
Time: 2:02:47 7:40/mile | 