Ran a decent tempo run this morning - 2 sensible warm up miles, followed by 4 miles at tempo pace and ending in 2 cool down miles. I must admit to having felt sluggish through the run. I hope some down time over the next 10 days will help me feel energized come race day.I have also come to realize that like all my races, I am seriously undertrained. That said, this really started out as being a training run due to my injury so I have to try to keep that perspective as difficult as that may be.
For the race, I am considering running the first five miles at about 7:00 / mile, the second five miles at 6:50 / mile and then just trying to see what is left in the tank for the remainder. I am not sure if anyone out there has any experience running 1/2 marathons, but would be curious to hear about any experiences people have had with pacing as I have zero experience to draw from at this distance.
2 comments:
The target time (90ish) sounds about right, and reining in your adrenaline with a measured first five miles also sounds...measured. I wouldn't commit to 6:50s for the second five, though, nor would I start ramping it up immediately after I passed the 5 marker. Play it by ear and gradually ratchet up the rhythm, maybe waiting for the first nice downhill slope (if there is one) somewhere after 5.
Don't sweat the periodic sluggishness, especially if you are (more or less) comfortable completing the tempo. But I would try to keep my pre- and post-tempo miles to sub9mins. I think it was Sebastian Coe who said something like, "Nice, slow distance runs produce nice, slow distance runners."
:)
Good luck with the training. And congrats on keeping up with the speed work. That's what takes off the seconds.
Sage advice - I am going to keep it in my mind during the race. Thanks!!
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