Ran 9 miles at marathon pace today.....well "close" to marathon pace. After a mile warm up I started out hitting about 7:30 miles for the first five miles, then faded off for a couple of miles but still kept the pace under 7:50 then finished off the last two closer to 7:35. for an average pace of 7:37 per mile. Not too bad, but not where I want to be. Part of my problem relates to the back issues I have been having lately and part of the problem (besides lack of fitness) is not refeuling at mile 6 or 7. I usually take in some gel on my long runs at about mile 7 but for some reason (lack of planning and laziness) on my pace runs I never take anything, not even water. I still have three more 9+ mile marathon pace runs so I think for each one of those I will plan on taking a gel and water at about mile 7 to see if that makes any difference. Started earlier than usual today in order to get done at a decent hour and the temps seemed a bit cooler. 81 degrees at the end and still quite a bit of humidity in the air. Since this is a cut back week, only 12 tomorrow for the long run, then two huge weeks follow that. The true test of my fitness will come in the next six weeks as the miles and intensity to beyond anything I've done before.
Time: 7:50/mile | 