City of Lakes 25K - 2008

Well, weather was about perfect. It was a tiny bit cooler than I might have asked for, but it’s better than the heat that could’ve been. Not sure on early temp, but low 50s I’d guess, no wind, some clouds. I wore shorts and a long sleeved tech shirt, I should’ve worn a short sleeved and gone with my tube sock sleeves, but either way I was OK. My plan was to start the first 2 miles at around 8:30 and then bump up to MP of 8:00 miles through mile 10 or so, and then see what I had left for the last 5.5. As you can see, that plan kind of went by the wayside…

Mile 1 – 8:16
Mile 2 – 7:57
Mile 3 – 7:50
Mile 4 – 8:06
Mile 5 – 7:55
Mile 6 – 7:50
Mile 7 – 7:45
Mile 8 – 7:21
Mile 9 – 7:50
Mile 10 – 7:25
Mile 11 – 7:42
Mile 12 – 7:41
Mile 13 – 7:31
Mile 14 – 7:30
Mile 15 – 7:23
Mile .73 – 5:06

Garmin Time for 15.72 – 2:01:16 ~ Unofficial Clock Time – 2:01:41
Garmin ½ Marathon – 1:43:26 ~ ½ Marathon Clock – 1:43:53

This race is not chip timed so that accounts for the difference in my Garmin time vs. the clock time. I was about 30 seconds or so off the clock, took that time to get to the start line from where I started. And then of course, I didn’t get the full tangents of the course so ran a bit further than the 25K. Average pace for the almost 16 miles that I ran (and I did a 1 mile warm up) was 7:43. Average pace I need for my time goal for the marathon is 8 minute miles…marathon is now officially 4 weeks out. (And the picture is of the beer stein that you get for finishing, much better than a cotton t-shirt!! If only they provided beer to put in it!!) Oh, and I put my 1/2 marathon pace breaks in there simply because I was feeling really good then, and even on the clock time, I was ahead of my current 1/2 PR.

I needed this race. It felt really good. I had to rein myself in a bit, I hope and pray I feel that same way on marathon day. I definitely picked up sooner than I planned, and while toward the end I was feeling a bit tired, you wouldn’t know it by the paces I was putting up. Oh, and I more than made up for the way I ran it last year...I definitely was in better shape, and I didn't get dehydrated, and die at the end.

Oh, and those 2 fast miles from the intervals, I did mapmyrun on them, and they were about a tenth of a mile off, so more in the 6:30 and 7:00 miles that I figured…I know there is no way I’d feel that good after paces those fast!! This week is my last really full, hard week. My last 20 miler is on Saturday. I have a group run speed day on Tuesday, and then will do more intervals on Thursday. Another speed day or two next week, and the taper begins.