Update

Gotta start thinking of better titles for these posts.

Wednesday: Did 8 miles after on the dreadmill. Most of it was at 8 min/mile. It went pretty well with my HR being much lower than it normally would be. I was feeling so good that I cranked up the speed to my LT pace of 6:48 min/mile was about 3/4 mile right at the end. Really surprised that the HR barely got up over 170 for that last portion since it should be closer to 180 at that pace though it may not have been enough time to get the HR up.



Thursday: Went back to the gym to do the exact same run again of 8 miles at 8 min/miles. Unfortunately I don't think I had quite recovered from the previous days run cause even though my pace was exactly the same, my HR was about 5 beats higher and drifting over 160 for most of the second part of the run.


Sunday: Did a 10 mile race today. The race took place on most of the same path where I did a half marathon during the summer. The race starts out at a marina which for obvious reasons is not getting too much use at this point in the year. My original plan for this race was to try and do the first half at my Boston pace and than to gradually increase my pace to LT pace. When I arrived at the race they made us park at a local hospital about a km from the start line and while walking there I got a first glance at the trail and I realized my plan was going to be tough since the paths were covered with ice.

So the race starts and the first little part runs down a drive way which is covered with ice to join a paved trail which is also covered with ice. Since the first part of the trail runs beside the road, everyone bypasses the trail and ends up running the first little bit on the road which probably added a couple of seconds to the first mile. When the route rejoins the trail, there's ice everywhere and everyone is basically running in a single file on the edge of the grass on the trail. I passed the first mile marker at 7:52 which is much slower than I would have liked. I continue on and miss the 2nd mile marker, but pass the 3rd mile marker with a lap time of 15:26 which is 7:43 min/mile pace which is still a bit slow. I think most of this is do to the runners having to run in a single file to navigate the ice properly.

By mile 3, it certainly felt like I was working much harder than i should be. Maybe it was the not being full recovered after my runs on Thursday or Friday or it could have been the shock to the system of running in 0C weather after running in the nice comfortable indoors. Whatever the reason, I'm pretty sure the marathons i did a few months ago felt much easier in comparison by the 3 mile mark. From this point on to the 5 mile turnaround point, I was basically running a 7:30 min/mile pace and working a bit. Good thing is I was passing people who seemed to be working harder than me so I guess I was not alone. Hit the turnaround point and headed back and that's when I noticed the wind while running by the lake. I guess I didn't notice it running in the out portion, but it was quite breezy while heading back. Pushed through the wind and was able to maintain pace. I guess I had another extra gear but I just didn't know it. Anyhow, I finished with a time of 1:15:58 for an average pace of 7:36.