Running Faster

Ask me how my run went this morning. C'mon, I know you want to know. Well, it went really well, thank you very much. I have to admit, I was a bit scared at this little progressive pace run on the schedule. I think my goal MGP (7:38) is tough. The 10k pace that goes along with a 7:38 MGP is something that I've never even thought about doing in a real 10k. I was shooting for a 7:15-7:20 10k pace today, which is a faster pace than my standing 5k pr (7:29 pace). Really, I have struggled with speed in the past.

Here's how it was supposed to go. The first column is the 'ideal pace structure' as set up by coach. The second column is what I thought I could do. (I wanted to give myself slower early miles to warm up better.) The third column is what I did.

Ideal I'd be lucky Actual
to hit these
mile 1 8:35 9:00 8:58
mile 2 8:25 8:45 8:00
mile 3 8:15 8:30 8:00 (split 15:59 for miles 2-3)
mile 4 8:05 8:15 7:55
mile 5 7:55 8:00 7:50 (split 15:44 for miles 4-5)
mile 6 7:45 7:45 7:48 (there was a little uphill)
mile 7 7:35 7:35 7:24
mile 8 7:25 7:30 7:21
mile 9 7:15 7:20 7:16
mile 10 fast! who knows? 7:07!!

I'm so excited that I felt strong enough to hit times close to the 'ideal workout'. Even with the fast early miles, I was able to hold on.

Woohoo! I got the biggest runners high from this run. I'm confident that my ultimate goal is a good goal for me. Even if I don't actually run 3:20 in Nashville, I'm confident that I can at least train for it and get faster overall as a result.

Other big news -

• I set a new PR for my 5k today between miles 6 and 10. Pick any 3.1 mile stretch between those mile markers and I smashed my old PR. I estimate my last 5k of the run was 22:28 (:54 faster than my PR)
• I also PRed my 10k. My average pace for my old PR was 7:40.7 per mile. Pick any 6.2 mile stretch after mile marker 3 of this morning's run and I set a new PR. I estimate my last 10k of the run was 46:21 (1:23 faster than my PR).