Went to the KPT and started out with 3 easy miles. First 2 were 8:30 then I bumped up to 8:00 so the transition to marathon pace would not be so severe. I have a hard time dialing in marathon pace because I spend so little time running it. I suppose that is what makes these runs so important. I do not think that I am in peak shape yet so my target pace was anything between 6:50 and 6:59. The plan was to run 6 miles at MP then stop at the car for a drink then head out for 6 more. Splits for the first 6 miles were: 6:56, 6:55, 6:54, 6:54, 6:55, 6:54. First 3 took a lot of focus but then I started to get in a groove and was able to put it in cruise control. Stopped at the car, got a drink and stripped off a layer of clothes. Stopping after getting into a groove was a bad idea. It took so much work to get going again. I felt light headed and out of sorts. There was a guy ahead of me that I used as a target which helped keep the pace honest. He was moving pretty well and not coming back to me very quickly. Eventually caught him after the first mile and he stayed on my heels. He really pushed me and the next mile came in at 6:44. Oops. I actually felt better during this mile than any other mile during the run. Amazing what a little competition will do. He turned off and I was on my own for the next 4 miles. The 11th mile was very hard. There were a few times where I wanted to quit. My legs even involuntarily stopped once. I convinced myself that these are the things that I need to push through and use the experience to learn how to push myself. Pushed the pace on the last mile and finished well. Splits for the last 6 were: 6:58, 6:44, 6:57, 6:55, 6:55, 6:46. A good learning experience to discover that when you feel like you are done, you still have a few miles left in the tank. It was way too much work for an MP run but it felt good to put in a solid effort. The achilles only burned slightly during the run which probably had more to do with the Motrin than anything else. Total Time: 1:47:43 (7:11/mile)
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