My final race before the Philadelphia Marathon next weekend and my body was craving a run. I didn't run a scheduled 6 miles on Thursday, as a long day of work just wouldn't allow. A few weeks ago I ran a 5K in exactly 20:00, so my goal was for 19:anything. I settled on targeting a 19:40 (6:20/pace).
I ran this race last year and so I was familiar with the terrain (virtually flat compared to my training runs for the past couple of months.) The first mile, was tougher than I thought it would be. I could feel my heartrate being very erratic and finished mile 1 with a 6:30 (shooting for 6:25 on mile 1). Not pleased, I turned it up a notch as we hit the trail along the Niagara River and completed mile 2 at 6:13 (goal: 6:20). I was hurting now, but kept saying over and over in my head, only one mile, only one mile. I focused on keeping my strides short and quick and tried not to look at my watch too much. I also focused on catching one person at a time and this seemed to help a ton! I finished mile 3 in 6:22, then sprinted to the line. As I came around the corner for the final stretch I saw the clock 19:30, and I knew I did it. I finished in 19:46, ah, success! 2nd in my age group, 26th overall.
Mileage: 3.10
Time/Pace: 19:46/6:22
Avg HR/Max HR: 176/211
Elevation: 29ft
Congrats to my wife too, who shaved another 2+ minutes off of her personal best. She is looking stronger everyday. Soon enough she'll be marathoning too!
2 months ago
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