Things have warmed up here the last few days. We actually hit 80 degrees today. It’s a final send off before I have to face my 15 miles in windy 26 degree weather on Sunday I think. In any case, I was scheduled for some threshold training today:
4 miles easy + 2 miles at my threshold pace (7:17) + 4 miles easy + 2 miles threshold + 1 mile easy.
I managed to keep myself at easy pace for the first 4 miles so that I was pretty fresh for the first interval. At the 4 mile mark, I hit the lap button on my Garmin and sped up pretty quickly. The first mile was easy, but the second was pretty tough. I knocked those two miles out in 14 minutes flat. I certainly felt like walking, but managed to hold on to roughly an 8:30 pace while I recovered for 4 miles. I had some pretty serious doubts about the second 2 mile interval, but I shot out again telling myself it would probably be alright if I averaged 7:25 or so. To my surprise, I finished those two in 14:03. I did take about 5 seconds of walking at that point, but finished the last mile at my easy pace.
Overall, I finished 13 miles in 1:47:03 – an overall average of 8:14 per mile and I was certainly not spent. So, I basically just have to take 45 seconds per mile off and I’ve got my goal for the half marathon. It won’t be easy, but I’m pretty confident at this point – especially when you factor in fresh legs from a taper, the lack of stopping for traffic and the multitude of other runners to pace me.
sounds like it won’t be much trouble to hit your goal for the half! i ran a 1:51 in a training 13 mi run and then ran a 1:41 half “race” while taking the first 4 miles easy (easier, 8min/mile +). so i am full of confidence for you! the tapering and crowd will definitely help too, but it already sounds like you are fully capable.
Wow, since a half is my goal I feel inspired by reading this, but a little intimidated.
You should think about putting up a graph of your training runs over time???
@Jennifer. I do have a graph at the Runner’s World training log, but there’s no real way to share it. That’s part of the reason I’ve decided to build my own logging system with widgets that can be embedded on blogs and Facebook pages. I think it’d be cool if people could have “virtual running buddies” and easily share their workouts with others.