6 miler update

The schedule I had jotted down, and the clock, really only allowed for a 3.5 mile run last night.

I got to my 3.5 mile turnaround point, started to turn around, looked at the clock, and started to wonder…

 

The first half of the run had been remarkably easy and quick.  I still felt good.  If I hurried, I could still make it home by 8 and make my 9:00pm appointment.

 

On the other hand…  I could knock out 3.5 tonight, then hit the trail for 6 in the morning, maybe even 6.2 and call it a true 10k…  although, realistically there was very little chance I’d wake up early enough to get in a full hour or so run in the morning, AND I was going out of town Thursday, which would be the next morning I could realistically cram in a longer run…

 

Then, the light turned green and I bolted across the street without even thinking about it another second.  6 miles it is!!  I let out a (louder than expected) bark of a laugh, people looked, but I didn’t care.  I was actually feeling pretty good and even somewhat enjoying the run.  As Holden said, I might be becoming friends with running.

 

I touched the tracks and made the turn back home.  A check of the timer showed me that I ran the first half in just over 30 minutes.  If I hustled, I could make it home in an hour.  I wasn’t sure I had enough juice in the tank, and there was a pretty stiff headwind, but if there’s a chance of failure, I might as well fail big.  There were a couple of points on the trail where I leaned on the accelerator just to see how the engine would perform.  At one point a guy and his wife passed me very slowly on their bikes.  I flipped on the burners and tried to catch up to them and was getting close, until she looked over her shoulder and added a little speed of her own.

That’s ok…  I ran faster than a bike rider there for a few seconds.  Even better, I ran the whole route.

For the final leg, I saw that I needed to finish in about 15 minutes to break an hour.  That was unlikely to happen, but it was worth a try.  By the time I got to the home stretch it was clearly not going to happen, but I could still get home in under 11:00/mile, so I kept the pressure on and stopped the clock at 1:02:57, just under 10:30 per mile.  Not a bad run.

 

The tale of the clock:

6.02 miles. Total time: 1:02:57 for a 10:27 per mile pace.

Splits (1&4 = 1.82 miles, 2&3 = 1.19 miles):

1. 18:10.5  (9:59/mile pace) ç11 seconds faster than the previous running of this segment.

2. 12:01.0  (10:05 pace)

3. 13:30.4  (11:21 pace)

4. 19:15.7  (10:35 pace)ç1:30 faster than the previous running of this segment.

 

The average mile was 10:27.  The standard deviation (yes, I’m bit of a nerd) was only :37.  I’d still like to get some more consistency.

For the first time a 5:00:00 marathon seems within reach (11:27 pace), and a 4:30 marathon is not inconceivable.  I still have a long way to go for either of those marks, though.