Couldn't find my heart rate monitor for the last 2 days so I had to run without it. I ran on effort/pace but could not assess whether I had recovered fully from Wednesday's 5k race. I guess I have.
A 10 mile run in the park yesterday morning. Pace was 08:00 to 08:15 for the first 7 miles after which I upped it to between 07:40 to 07:50 for the last 3 miles just because I felt like it - no other reason. Steady pace/effort running is fine but gets a little monotonous at times.
My long run this morning was practically the same route as last week (marginally longer @ 20.85 miles). Getting ready was like packing for a day out - running belt - drink, iPod, Phone & loose change (don't usually take the phone and change - but they are handy if stuck). There was a light misty rain for the first 13 miles. I wore a baseball cap to keep the rain off my glasses. However the rain was so light that it appeared to hang in the air and I had to hang my glasses off my running belt (It was beginning to feel like a tool belt). The weather reminded me of the West Cork Marathon that I ran in May, not bad for running as the light rain has a cooling affect - Thomas will know what I mean.
When I stopped to stretch after the warmup mile a girl approached me and asked for 50 cent to call a taxi as she had missed the bus to work (she must have seen my tool belt) When I gave her a Euro she said she only wanted 50 cent. I replied that despite appearances I was out for a run and didn't bring my wallet. She thanked me and left.
I ran at a fairly even effort at about 08:10 pace until the last mile when I decided to see if there was anything left in the tank (safe to do this when you're close to home). I was able to up the pace and completed the last mile (which is half up-hill/half flat) in 07:28 - felt faster but, hey! the watch doesn't lie. Total run took 02;48:42 (08:05 pace).
The final mile was at the pace I am targeting for the Dublin Marathon in October - should get me close to 03:15 (If truth be told a sub 03:20 Boston qualification will do me fine). This got me thinking about target pace in general. After my race on Wednesday I plugged my time into the McMillian Running Calculator which spat out a 03:08:29 Marathon (07:12 pace) up from my last best prediction (from my half marathon PB) of 03:15:03 (07:27 pace - which is the basis for my current target). I certainly know, based on my last marathon in June, that 07:12 pace will not be achievable in October - 07:27 is an ambitious target as it is. On checking Wednesday's race results on the web ( I got accredited with a time of 19:19 btw) and comparing them against another 5k held two weeks ago I noticed that a number of the regular competitive runners (sub 18:00) had run Wednesday's race 20 to 30 seconds faster than the one two weeks ago. So If I had run the 5k two weeks ago as opposed to Wednesday my time possibly would have been closer to 20:00, which is equivalent to a 03:15 marathon (according to Mcmillian).
I know pace depends on the terrain and all that - which brings me back to Thomas's comment on Wednesday that he and I run similar paces because our 5K PB's are similar. As the West Cork Half Marathon is the only race we've both run and he finished a good 2.5 minutes ahead of me I conclude that Thomas is further down the road than I am. Apologies for the long wavering thread but those are my thoughts for the day.
Ah, but 2.5 minutes in a half-marathon are still similar times. Stop denying the fact that we're pretty close.
ReplyDeleteI know about the cooling effect of light rain indeed. In fact, I think I tend to run best in drizzly conditions (maybe because I'm so used to that).
We've discussed the McMillan predictions before. I think 3:15 is ambitious but achievable, and 3:20 should be well within reach.