sub-3 or blow-up trying

Had a nice, solid run today.  It was yet another cold day, so I layered up and ran a course through moderate hills.  Did 1st 10 miles at a very comfortable pace in 1:17:20 (7:45 pace).  Felt good, so stopped by the track and took off a layer to start a tempo run.  However, within 3 laps, my bottom layer was frozen solid.  Decided to stop with 1 mile, save the tempo for tomorrow and jog home.  Did mile 11 in 6:28 minutes and jogged home at an 8:45 pace. 

Feeling close to 100%.  Have lost a little bit of fitness (mostly due to 2-3 lb weight gain), but should have it back in a week or two.   

Jogged 1.75 to Whites Woods.  Ran a 5k trail course...mile 1- 6:05, part way through mile 2 was stopped by a 1/2 dozen deer...stopped my watch and then forgot to restart it when I resumed running.  Hit the stop button at the finish and looked down, expecting to see somewhere around 20 minutes and saw 11 minutes...pretty dissappointing for the effort that was exerted.  Not an all out, 100% run, but pretty close.  I'm guessing 19:50 or so.  Legs were a little heavy from the weekend, but the foot is absolutely fine. 

Jogged 1.75 back to the gym and did a leg workout with squats.  Plan on 2 days of recovery running before the 10k on Thursday. 

As badly as I wanted to run today, felt it would be wise to rest a day.  Foot is feeling heathly, had a great weekend of running, and hope to remain strong.  Will run a 10k on Thursday and a long run on Friday.  No need to get crazy this far out from April. 

Did 45 minutes with upperbody weights. 

Slow run on the treadmill.  Two days easy, leading into a full weekend of running. 

Overall, felt very good about the race this morning.  Did 3-mile warm-up.  Sizeing up the field (500 runners) and the times from last year, my goal was top 50 and a time under 45 minutes.  This was the most challenging course I have ever run (6 fairly strong hills) and felt as though my pacing remained consistent throughout. 

Mile 1:  6:30 (Had to exert myself for a hill that cover the last .25)

Mile 2:  6:30 (Probably the hardest I ran for the entire race)

Mile 3:  7:10 (.75 uphill followed by a sharp decline back down)

Mile 4:  7:28 (Not that bad a hill, just pretty much covered most of the mile...my legs began to really feel it)

Mile 5:  7:47 (nastiest stretch of the race...kept a solid pace...held position)

Last 1.2:  7:40 (nice gradual slope downward, followed by one sharp upward hill, and ending w/a .2 mile stretch that was flat...ran this stretch at a 6:23 pace and felt strong at the finish)

Overall, if this was a flat course, I really feel as though I had it in me to maintain a 6:20-30 pace...the hills were challenging, yet I seemed to push through them with strength.  This is officially my 10k pr (although I've shattered that time within a 1/2 marathon and 20k).

Weight:  183.5 lbs (Will begin to shoot towards 175lbs, starting tomorrow)

I'm very pleased with my run today.  Having completed a 10k yesterday, I didn't expect to do anything special.  As I set out, my intent was a 20-miler, yet within a few miles I knew I was feeling pretty good.  Decided to turn left instead of right to pursue to 22-miler Ed and I measured out last September.  It's extremely challenging, full of hills. 

I checked last September's log (20th) to find what I completed it in:  2:55:39 (7:59 pace).  It was my last long run before the marathon taper.  Today I did it in 2:43:22 (7:25 pace).  The first 12.5 was 1:33:35 (7:29 pace) and the last 9.5 was in 1:09:47 (7:21 pace). 

In September I weighed 179 lbs...today I was 183 lbs.  My goal for Boston will be a sub-3hour and I hope to get my weight down to 175lbs.  The 8 lbs alone might help shave 16-20 seconds per mile which puts be almost there (I was 182lbs for a 7:16 overall marathon pace).  Nutrition diet starts today!

I had to laugh today.  Ed did not know I was running a 20-miler yesterday and found a semi-long run for today full of hills.  Asked if I was up for something new and I heard my self saying, "sure, why not?"  First 5 miles was "killer".  I joked that he was sadistic and sticking it to me.  He replied, "You haven't seen anything yet."  Sure enough, the next 5 miles was a series of hills unlike anything I've ever run.  Felt like the streets of San Francisco.  I joked that he was just going to keep hitting me with hills until I dropped.  He quipped back, yeah each new one's like a punch to the gut.  We ended up running 13.6 miles in 1:52:49 (8:18 pace).  I'm now heading off to run with my 9-year-old, Courtney.  She's getting ready for the "Jingle Bell Run", a 3-miler next Saturday. 

Finished off the day by running with Courtney.  She ran the 1st mile in 8:25.  Then we ran a sequence of three half-miles with a 1-minute break between each.  Kept about an 8:40 pace.  She is hoping to run 3.1 next Saturday.  I think she'll do fine.