Slowly Getting Faster

I needed to get a decent run in but I didn't want to run on the road.  I have a hard time pounding the pavement after the sun has come out. Instead, I ran down 200 east to Freedom Hills park and then cut up to the firebreak road, cut back toward farmington and went up and over flag rock, down to the pond and back on lagoon trail. Bugs were pretty bad on the flag rock trail but otherwise it was a good outing. 

I need to be getting more marathon pace running in if I'm going to have a respectable marathon time.  I've decided that my 6:49 pace goal, for 26 miles, is an unreasonable goal.  As a result, I've cut it back to 7:30 per mile.  7:30 isn't a relaxed or easy pace, but it isn't an all out sprint either. It's a sustainable effort at this point, which means I think I can do that for the marathon distance. 

Today I did 2 mile warmup, followed by 6 miles at or near 7:30 pace, and 2 miles cooldown. splits were: 7:37; 7:28; 7:38; 7:34; 7:42; 7:30. average of 7:35 per mile. I had some tightness on the fith split and had to stop for a minute and stretch.  Then I had to run faster to get my time back down. Effort felt good though, not forced. 

I can't remember what happened with this run.