Today for my long run I wanted to test-run my new marathon loop to see how I like it and test the mileage out. The verdict was that I like it a lot. Its a really fast and smooth loop with no stops anywhere. And the loop runs through really nice flat trail sections in boulder and through some really cool neighborhood roads. Some of the course is rolling slightly with ups and downs under bridges and roads, which makes it nice for some variety. But there are no significant hills to climb or descend on the loop. Its slightly downhill a couple of the miles, and slightly up a couple of the others, but it's so minor that I hardly noticed. According to my GPS device though the loop is only 6.3-6.33 miles long. Not the 6.55 that MapMyRun suggested. That could be because I'm losing reception on the many tunnels, or because I'm running the tangents. In any case, I need to slightly revise the loop or measure it better so that I know that I'm running a loop that covers the full 6.55 miles necessary to make four loops a marathon. For the run I did a 4 mile warmup to the course. 1 easy lap around the course. Then one moderate to steady lap around the course. Meaning I wasn't going to try to hit marathon pace, just run it somewhere between easy and marathon pace. 1st lap: 47:23 - easy pace - 7:31 avg 2nd lap: 41:24 - moderate to steady pace - 6:34 avg Splits for 6 miles of the second lap: 7:19, 6:37,6:22, 6:15, 6:19, 6:15 I was surprised at how easy the 6:15-6:20 pace felt as I was running the 2nd loop. But after the run I could tell it was a decent effort as I was dripping and a bit stiff after I stopped for a bit. The real tests are going to be the two different marathon pace runs I do when I test out 2 consecutive loops at pace one run, and then three, or close to three, on a different run. If I can hold 16-18 miles at marathon pace 3-4 weeks out from my goal date, and then I taper, I believe I'll be able to do it. Time will tell though. I can predict that 3 loops at marathon pace is going to a challenging run. The first loop will be straightforward enough, but after that, well, I guess we'll see. | 