I did 10 miles on the canal this morning with my normal group, although I ended up running alone most of the time. The rest of the group is faster than me right now. I started out with a friend doing about a 9:15 pace, and I felt like I was going WAY too fast, so I dropped back. I met up with the group a little before mile 4. They turned around, so I met up with some other people who I ran with until my turnaround at mile 5. They were running 20 miles, and I think we were doing well over 10-minute miles. I hit 5.1 miles right at 50 minutes, so my splits for the first half were about 10 minute miles overall.
I felt a little better on the way back and decided to pick up the pace. I ran the second half in 47:30 (9:30 pace), and I'm glad I was able to speed it up. There were SO many people out there by then, which translates to a lot more water and Gatorade stops. I was glad for all the Gatorade, because I didn't have any Gu today.
I feel good, but I need to get my long run pace down to 9:00 miles. I'm confused about my slow pace today, especially since I did 7 miles the other night at 9:05 pace with no problem. I felt fine today, but I just couldn't go any faster. But, I've starting my marathon training a full month earlier this year, so hopefully I'll be up to speed in a couple of weeks.
I have a 5K tomorrow morning! I've helped organize the race, and I'll run it if my legs feel fresh. Actually, I plan on jogging it as a recovery run. BUT, we'll see what happens when I actually get out there. I won an age group prize last year, so my competitive juices might get flowing once I'm at the starting line! |