Saturday, March 19, 2011

The confidence booster.

Today I had 11 miles on my original training plan but for the past 3-4 weeks I've been modifying the plan based on where I am now, compared with where I was when I started training. I felt the need, desire and ability to run another 13 miler so that's what I ran. And, I decided to stick in 4 miles at race pace in the middle and to try to finish with a fast last mile.

When I was getting ready to run, though, Mother Nature decided she was not going to go easy on me today. It was cool, very windy and there was something falling from the sky. Not quite snow, not really rain -- pellets of ice? Sleet? Hail? Whatever it was it was annoying and I didn't want to run in it.

But it stopped so I finished getting ready and after putting the baby down for a nap I headed out the door to start my 13 miles. And it started to sleet/hail again. For just the first five or so minutes of my run but still.

Anyway, I wasn't about to turn around (even though with the wind I was a little tempted) so I ran on. Here's a look at my 13 miles.

I ran the first 5 miles nice and easy, without looking at my Garmin, just running by feel:

Mile 1: 10:33
Mile 2: 9:29
Mile 3: 9:21
Mile 4: 9:18
Mile 5: 9:35

My plan was then to pick up the pace to run at my goal race pace of 8:30 for 4 miles:

Mile 6: 8:17
Mile 7: 8:28
Mile 8: 8:57
Mile 9: 8:27

Then I wanted to slow back down to an easy pace for the next 3 miles:

Mile 10: 9:23
Mile 11: 9:46
Mile 12: 9:27

And finish (somewhat) strong:

Mile 13: 8:50

Total: 1:59:22

I am super pleased with how this run went. I missed my goal race pace by 2 seconds (wanted 8:30, ran 8:32 overall pace) but I'll take it because this was a hard run. I don't know if my mile repeats from earlier in the week caught up to me or if it was the whipping wind that I faced during most of the run but, man, this was a tough one! It took a while for my legs to feel loose and once they did it was just about time to speed up.

Oddly, my race pace miles were the best miles of the whole run. I wanted to keep going but knew that I shouldn't. My plan was not to race this training run, just give myself a feel of the pace. A confidence-booster, if you will.

Now there are two weeks to race day. I feel so completely ready for this race! I'm going to be nervous on race day, for sure. But I know I can go the distance and I know I can push it. What remains to be seen is how hard.

I'm off to enjoy the rest of the weekend. Hope you all have a great one!

~ Felice

18 comments:

Little Miss Runshine said...

Great run!
You will rock that race! That is great your race pace miles were your best! That's a good sign!
Keep up the great work and have a great weekend! :)

misszippy said...

Wow--don't think you could have executed that any better! Nice work.

Unknown said...

great job!

Andrew Opala said...

awesome ... one day I hope to be as good as you!

mom27g said...

Great run!!

Samantha said...

great run! good for you...not letting that hail/sleet/slush stuff keep you down!

Anonymous said...

Awesome job! we had a similar run today. I did a half marathon in 1:58:52.

MCM Mama said...

Great job! I'm one week out from mine and I don't even know what my race pace is LOL.

Unknown said...

Great job. Getting that other mile in will count so much for you on race day.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a very strong run. Way to go! You should be very proud of yourself, especially given the unpleasant weather conditions.

Suzy said...

Way to have a great run! You are right, a huge confidence booster. You'll do great in 2 weeks.

Marlene said...

Wow, nice execution on the long run! You are in great shape for a strong race in two weeks!!

Darlene said...

Your race pace is amazing. I am so in awe.

Darlene said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Being Robinson said...

nice run in some gross weather, it DOES sound like you'll be race ready.

EndorphinBuzz said...

Good work! Getting these fast and difficult runs are great for race-day confidence!

Tiffany @ The Chi-Athlete said...

I believe that at some point, it's harder to run slower than what your body is trained to do. You become more efficient at that pace and your body desperately wants to rock it out!

GREAT RUN, and YES! Keep this run in your mind if you have ANY future doubts! :)

Lauren @ mostly i run said...

Great run! You're ready :)

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