Damn... I needed that. Woke up on time, got myself into the right place in a decent amount of time for once (wake up, get dressed, coffee, bathroom, stretch, etc).. It finally cooled off and it's looking like September is going to be a good month. 54 degrees and low humidity as I headed out the door this morning at about 6am. I just plain felt good and was ready for a good solid effort. Plan was 10 solid miles... Didn't have an exact time goal up figured sub-7 minute pace would be reasonable and even would have been okay at 7:15 pace.
I started my first mile pretty fast. I could tell my legs were turning over well and I knew I was probably sub-7 but I was feeling good and it was the first mile so I figured I'd start out strong and then could settle in. I made a point not to just run by what felt right and not check my watch until the mile split. I was pleased but not completely surprised when I hit that first mile in 6:33.
I continued strong into the 2nd mile. Down a hill smooth then up the next hill not quite as smooth and split a 6:36. Still cruising and my mind started to wander a bit... this used to happen to me all the time on runs in my younger years but just recently started happening for me again. I hit mile 3 at 6:51.
When I saw the 6:51 I figured I must be slowing down. Wondered if I would continue to slow down and bounce around the 7 min mile pace. I refocused a bit for mile 4 but still tried not to push too hard. Hit mile 4 at 6:39.
I thought, 6:39 is probably a bit fast but maybe I'll bank some time early and cruise in to a good overall pace even if I slow down for the 2nd half of the run. Kept cruising into mile 5 and wound up zoning out some more and missed seeing the mile split (6:43). Still relaxed for mile 6 and hit another 6:43.
Now 4 miles left and I was on the back stretch of my typical 7 mile run. It's a 1 mile straight away on pretty much completely flat ground. The first (and really only) mile without any significant hills. At the end of mile 6 my HR was averaging 157 and I didn't feel like I was aerobically over-exerting at all. But as I came to the end of mile 7 my legs started feeling some discomfort and fatigue. I was able to utilize a mind trick I had stumbled upon during my summer track workouts... it's hard to explain exactly but if I focus too much on the leg pain I start to tighten up but if I refocus and mute the signals from the legs I can almost ignore them and then they loosen up and I run more smoothly. In this case, I focused on what it would take to keep the legs relaxed and wound up picking up the cadence as a result going from about 180 spm early in the run up to about 187 spm. With the upped cadence I wound up hitting a 6:38, my fastest mile since mile 2.
Now I had 3 miles left. I was thinking, I needed to keep cruising for that 8th mile and if I felt good I'd start picking it up the last 2 miles. My HR was still right under 160 for mile 7. HR stayed under 160 for mile 8 but running with the upped cadence I wound up running a 6:29.
I was almost euphoric after that 8th mile. Sub 6:30 pace for my 8th mile and it felt easy! Now with 2 miles left I started to push it just a bit. The first half of mile 9 is uphill but the 2nd half is downhill. Still wasn't pushing too hard and split a 6:17.
I'm still feeling good but now I'm ready to actually push it. I finally take my HR over 160. Still staying relaxed but I'm not comfortable anymore and I'm glad there's only a mile left. My 9.5 miles I'm hurting, counting down to the finish in .01 increments. It's all downhill the last .5 miles though so I'm moving fast. I'm going hard as I turn the corner towards my house and for some reason my watch measured the course a bit shorter than normal today so I still have .05 left. Now I'm sprinting, giving it my all and waiting for my watch to vibrate to let me know I hit 10 miles (6:01 split). It finally vibrates and I cruise to a stop.
10.01 miles
1:05:37
6:33 avg. pace
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