Pace Check

I started my run out a little faster than race pace. I kept trying to back down the pace as I ran along on the sidewalk with the oncoming traffic to my right. By the time I turned right and was heading towards the foothills, my current pace was reading 8:40/mile pace. This was right where I wanted it.

I had a little more cushion today as the soccer games were falling behind. I dropped YaYa off at 10:30 am. This was the warm up the coach wanted for the scheduled 11 am kick-off time. The games were playing about 30 minutes behind schedule, so YaYa’s game might not occur until 11:30 am. Time was on my side.

I had no intentions of hurrying this workout.

With many of my past marathons starting out a bit on the fast time, I want to run my Saturday runs at 8:40/mile pace. That is my planned race pace. And while I know that you will quickly do the math and tell me that I only need to run 8:47/mile to hit my 3:50:59 BQ goal, *this* pace is my plan. It has been since I moved from a 3:45 BQ requirement to the 3:50 BQ requirement.

Mile 2 clicked off at 8:37. I was happy with this time. I felt the road begin to get steeper as I got closer to the base of the foothills. Then, just as I turned the corner, I saw the HILL. It wasn’t all that long. Not as long and steep as this hills I’ll be running tomorrow. But this was different. The road was hard pavement. Most of the time, I ran on the sidewalk to be clear from the traffic. There was not shade and, although the houses were the more expensive homes, the sights weren’t all that pleasant.

I glanced down at my GPS. The screen showed my average pace for the current mile. It was a less pretty sight than the view around me. 9:45! Then, I glanced at the hill to my left. I wondered how much this was affecting the current reading. I tried not to look, continued to push, and keep my feet turn over stead. Finally, I was cresting the top. Mile 3 was 8:51 and I was already part of the way through mile 4.

As I came down the hill, I watched the lap pace and tried not to plow down too fast. The next mile clicked off at 8:39 and I was nearing the soccer fields. I did a quick estimation in my head and decided to pass the turn and head back to the school the back way. I guessed that this would add the needed distance taking into account a bit of GPS error due to the hills.

That last mile plus was a bit too fast. I guess that was why I felt like throwing up a one point. I don’t know what happened – I think that I saw the numbers wrong and speed up. The final distance was 5.66 with an overall average pace of 8:25/mile.

*sigh*

Well…I did manage to keep to the 8:40/mile pace for MOST of the run. *sheepish grin*