Kent, Larry, and I headed to THS. Monday is track day. Tim showed up a little later. This morning I felt the best I've felt in a long time, with very little pain and a little bit of zip in my legs...just a little. My 7 x 0.5 mile splits were 3:32, 3:31, 3:34, 3:27, 3:25, 3:24, and 3:18. These splits are on the faster end of what I've been doing the past number of weeks. Comparing my last 3 year's splits, many of them are very similar from year to year, with some lows and highs mixed in. A rough average breakdown is:
Miles 1-4
| 6:20/mi | Miles 5-8
| 6:40/mi | Mile 9
| 6:45/mi
| Mile 10
| 7:00/mi
| Miles 11-12
| 7:10/mi
| Mile 13
| 7:00/mi
| Last 0.1
| 40 secs
|
| 1:27:45 (6:42/mi)
|
My
last 3 year's times have been 1:27:02, 1:26:14, and 1:30:52. I'm not in 1:26 shape
this year. My stretch goal is my average of 1:27:45, but I'll be satisfied with anything at or under 1:30:00. To hit 1:27:45 would mean my average pace would have to be 3:21 per half mile, which is a fast half mile interval for me on track day, where I run 3.5 miles at roughly that pace, not 13.1 miles. Of course Hobble Creek has some great
downhill where the track is flat, and then there's always race day magic.
I'm excited to once again experience the adventure of
a race to push my mental and physical limits and see what's in there. | 