sub-3 or blow-up trying

7.5 miles on TM @ just under 8:30 pace. 

Another rainy Monday, another speedwork on the TM, and another day of encouraging progress...

2-mile "warm-up":  2nd mile progressively under marathon pace

- .25 jog-

3-miles @ 6min pace

- quick break to change shirt/socks + .25 mile jog

-3-miles @ 6min pace

Was happy to be able to do two 3-mile tempos @ that speed.  Most definitely does not translate to that speed outdoors, yet it's still getting me faster.  8.5 miles total. 

Logged 5 more miles on the TM @ 8:15 pace.

Rain and flooding throughout the state.  Back on the TM...7.5 miles @ 9min pace.

Went out for my Wednesday routine 5-mile tempo.  Was not feeling quite as spritely as past Wednesdays (probably due to Monday's workout), but I was determined to continue my improvement that has occurred every week for the past couple of months.  1-mile warm-up, 5-mile tempo (6:29,6:29,6:26,6:42,6:27)- I was absolutely spent, so walked for 2-minutes and started to head back.  Normally, I jog back at 8:30-9min pace, but somehow I felt much better today (even though the 1st half was way tougher), so I decided to pick it up a little and see if I could hold it comfortable.  Ran 4 at slow mp (7:09,7:32,7:20,7:19), and then did a 1.5 mile "cooldown".  Feel pretty good about the effort today- 11.5 miles total.

Ran the "Pie Hill" course which is filled with very steep hills.  Decided to do more of a progressive run and see how far I could take it comfortably- 8:57,8:51,8:13,8:13,8:07,8:00,7:41,7:48,7:30,7:38,7:24 + 1.5 mile "cooldown" for 12.5 miles total.  Right achilles started to get sore towards the end, so I walked the last .6 miles of the course, so as not to aggravate it any further.  It was fine 95% of the run, just being cautious at the end. 

Entered a race this morning to get a good threshold run in.  Perfect weather- high 40's, sun, light wind.  Warmed up at home (3 miles) and then drove almost an hour to get to the race- got a little lost towards the end and just made it in time.  Upon stepping out of the car, I heard them announce 5 min to race time.  Darted over to the registration table, threw on a bib# + chip and was literally off within a minute of getting to the start.  I haven't seen official chip time, so I'll give my report based on my garmin information...

Mile 1- 6:11 (a little faster than planned, but I couldn't hold back adrenaline)

Mile 2- 6:33 (uphill and against the wind, however, I felt I was settling into a comfortable pace)

Mile 3- 6:31 (still against the wind, but rolling hills- still feeling quite comfortable)

Mile 4- 6:28 (knew that I had a shot at 40min if I decided to pick things up)

Mile 5- 6:32 (a little disappointed with this mile, thought I was running faster)

Mile 6- 6:28 (kept a nice even pace and picked it up a tad for the final 1/2 mile slightly uphill)

Last .25- 6:09 pace (garmin was .05 longer than the course...not too bad)

Felt satisfied with the overall performance.  I think it's a pr, but I've not run this distance many times.  Felt as though I could have held pace for an extra 5k (but definitely not an extra 10k), and pretty likely could have done 5-10 sec faster per/mile if this was the race I was preparing for (rather than Boston in 2 weeks).  Pace stayed even and controlled throughout- probably 7-8 hills with pace variation from 6:40ish uphill to 6:05ish downhill.  When things were flat, I mostly maintained 6:15-25.  The garmin was really helpful in keeping this as an effective training run for Boston...might do a light recovery run in the late afternoon- it's a gorgeous day!  Sweet!! (just checked website) My official "chip time" was 39:58- I knew I was close, but didn't think I'd quite broken it. 

5.75 miles outdoors with 2 of my girls on their bikes.