sub-3 or blow-up trying

Three weeks from now I have a 7-mile local road race that will take place at 1pm in the afternoon.  It's a huge deal with people like Bill Rodgers and Rod Dixon who usually show up to participate as well as current elites and Kenyans who add a bit of spice to our small town event.  The biggest challenge- it's always at 1pm (very hot!) and the final mile has a 9% incline that puts Heartbreak Hill to shame (named by Runner's World as one of the top 10 hills in American road races). 

Anyway, it was hot today (mid to high 80's) w/a bit of nasty humidity as well.  A good chance to start to get my body acclamated to potential upcoming race conditions.  Having run long yesterday, my goal was just to push it a bit for a few miles and hope to be near the 7min/mile range for a tempo or two. 

As I set the garmin and started to run, I was pleasantly surprised to see the pace drop to 6:30 quite easily.  Thus, I decided to push it a tad more and see how I could hold it.  Mile 1- 6:18, mile 2- 6:17, Mile 3- 6:26 (stopped at a water spicket and lost my stride a bit...really needed the water though).  After mile 3, I went into a jog and dipped into off-road trails.  It was at least 10 degrees cooler, so I hung out in there for almost 6 miles, stopping for water at least 2-3 times.  Upon reaching the roads again, I felt I could push a second tempo, so I decided to push it for 2-miles (before "Gallows Hill").  Mile 1- 6:23 (pleasantly surprised), mile 2- 6:17.  Felt very satisfied with the results for today- ran 11.5 miles total. 

4.5 miles on the TM, closing w/the final .25 at 6min pace (8min pace overall).