Tonight my scheduled run was a one mile warmup, followed by 10 miles at 8:00 pace. That is the pace that I am planning on running the Las Vegas Marathon in December to qualify for Boston. So far my runs have been short and fast, or long and slow. This was the first real test of how I might fare during a marathon at that pace. I survived it! It wasn’t that bad.
I ran the warmup gradually increasing the speed. Then I began running the faster miles. I started out at 8:00 pace. My right calf was cramping from the beginning, and left over from my last workout. I was using my metronome to keep my cadence at 90. I took one minute walk breaks each mile, and then dropped the running pace to 7:47 figuring it would average out to 8 minute miles roughly. I watch a DVD of ChiRunning during the first 5 miles. After the first 5 mile were done, my new metronome watch was done charging. So I got it set up, and tried it on. I set it to vibrate mode, and ran my last 5 miles using the pulses to keep my cadence. The ChiRunning dvd ended and I watch the last part of Adventures In Babysitting on TV.
Soon my 10 miles was done. It wasn’t as hard as I imagined. My heart rate was mostly in the 160’s. It touched up into the low 170’s towards the end. I have little doubt that I will be able to hold this pace for the Niagara Fall Half Marathon in a week and a half. Whether I will be able to hold this pace for a full 26.2 mile, that remains to be seen. But I still have 6 and half weeks for that!

Posted by Rob in Whatever on October 17th, 2007 |