I wanted to simulate marathon pace this morning, so at the beginning of my run I went to the track and ran 5000m, hitting the first 4200 right at goal marathon pace, and then ran the final 800 in 2:19 (71, 68). 16:12 total for the 5k. Effort felt a little harder than marathon effort, but I was happy with the results, as I am at (slightly) higher altitude than Indianapolis is at, I was alone, there was a little wind slowing me down, and it was hot. It is true that I was on a track, which probably makes things a little faster, but overall I think this indicates that I am where I want to be heading into the last 2 months of marathon prep. I ran another 2 miles hard near the end of the run in 5:29, 5:24 just to get a little fast mileage in closer to the end of my run. 20 miles total in approximately 2:23:00 (not sure on the total time as I restarted my watch after the 5k). |