Boston Strong

Trail Run - 35:00    8:45 pace

Grass around soccer fields - Easy pace w/ some 1/4 pick ups and varying length strides.  AP - 7::45

Spin Class & then progression run on TM

Great run, I always seem to surprise myself with improved speed after taking some easy/rest days!  Obviosly the improved speed comes from the higher mileage I have been running, but it never seems to kick in until I take some rest/recovery.

 I tried the virtual partner on my Garmin for the first time tonight, and I really liked it, as with a quick glance of the watch I could see if I was gaining or losing on my target pace, but I never knew what pace I was averaging or how far I had gone ... so as a result I ran more on feel & did less analysis while actually running.

 I set the work out for 9 miles @ 7:00/mi pace, but as I was running comfortably and my lead gradually was increasing on my virtual partner, I decided to try to get up to a 0.2 mi lead on the virtual partner by the time it reached 6 miles, as that would mean I was running a 42 minute 10k.  I achieved this without pushing too hard, so increased the pace progressively for Mile 7 & 8, and then did a mile cool down.

My overall avg pace for 8 miles ended up being 6:38, which I was pretty pleased with since my 10k PR is 41:35 @ a 6:37 pace ... and I definitely was not racing!  Also, this run was on grass around the soccer fields in my trail shoes, not quite the same rebound as racing flats on pavement.

Mixed emotions about how I feel overall about this race, although overall I can't be upset with my time, just a little disappointed that I hit my aerobic threshold at Mile 2, at the top of a long tough hill!  At that point, I realized there was no way I would PR, so did not push too hard in Mile 3, then sprinted the last .1.  The race started 30 minutes late because apparently a dump truck had turned over somewhere in the area, & the sherriffs did not want to close road until they were sure that it was not needed for emergency vehicles ... always tough to time being ready to go with a long delay!

I went out faster than I knew I probably should have, but that was the only way I would PR on this course, so I figured I would at least put myself in position to PR by the time I hit Mile 2 marker, unfortunately I had little left at that point.  This course was much tougher than the 18:54 I ran 2 weeks ago, so setting another PR was probably an unrealistic expectation.

With a tenth of a mile to go, I decided to get in the afterburners to try to catch the guy ahead of me, who turns out was in my Age group ... he had about a 30 meter lead on me.  I steadily gained ground & passed him with about 20 yards to go, he tried to pass me back, but I held him off and finished about 1 yard ahead ... we had the same finishing time.  Always nice to close out the race with a head to head victory!

Mile 1 was net downhill - 5:50

Mile 2 had 111 elevation gain & 69 drop - 6:20

Mile 3 had 111 elevation gain & 89 drop - 6:44

The last tenth had a drop of 10', ran it in 24 seconds, which is a 4:00/mi pace ...

I was determined to finish ahead of the guy in front of me & finish on a positive note!  Overall Avg Pace - 6:13

I went to run the course a second time at an easy pace, and actually got stomach cramps just past Mile 2 while running an 8:20 pace ... so I definitely was not at Peak performance this morning ... but considering it is only the second time I have gone sub 20 ... and the hills ... I guess the final verdict is I should be happy with my time!

PM - 7.5 mile trail run - AP - 9:33 - El gain: 886'