Monday, February 27, 2012

10 Mile Tempo–Number 02

I ran my last long tempo run on Sunday. The previous weekend I had run my fastest ever 10 mile tempo run. That run was an unplanned ladder than walked down to a 6:15 pace for the last two miles. The average pace for the run was 6:33 – which, to be honest, surprised me a little bit.

So, I thought I could bang out a 10 mile run at an average pace of 6:30 if I evenly paced the run. For me, and just about everyone if they actually tried it, the fastest way around the track is to run an even split. That means you start out pretty dang hard and keep the pace. Yes, it does get much harder but you just keep the pace.

So, that is what I tried this past Sunday. I decided to go west on the trace and run ‘slightly uphill’ for the first 5 miles. I was successful. I ran the first 5 miles with a ‘slight uphill’ on pace. Then it fell apart. Even though I had turned around, the run got harder. I kept the pace but I was getting hot. I also started to get a bit of an upset stomach. I had changed my routine some the morning before the session. I drank some milk. Now, I am not opposed to milk but I am also not a huge fan.

I started to slow and I actually walked for about 10 seconds during mile 7 – that mile clicked off at a 7:19 pace. The even slip goal was out the window. I also stopped at Clyde and grabbed a swallow of water. I was able to get back on pace for the final mile.

I finished the 10 mile run in 1:07 – EVEN. That was a 6:42 pace. But, this was not a race. But the temperature was in the 60’s (I NEED high 30’s / low 40’s). And my stomach was upset.

If I can eliminate a couple of these liabilities then I think I can PR the half next weekend.

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