Fri - DNR This wasn't a scheduled day off but I had several excuses. Raining, school work, sore calves, 21 miles planned for Saturday morning. I brushed off the run and actually didn't feel to bad about it.
Sat - Still raining as I set out for 21 miles. The plan was to run 5 easy miles, meet Dierdre in the Wissahickon and then run 15-16 more miles with her. It was warm for a late October morning and that made the rain almost enjoyable. The first 5 miles went easily and I was looking forward to meeting Deirdre and running a good workout. We ran the length of Forbidden Drive, which had some eerily cool pockets of cool air when the trails was lower and closer to the rain swollen creek.
The rain would turn heavy and then abate at regular intervals but I was kind of enjoying it. When we got to the top of the park Deirdre decided to turn around and save her long run for Sunday morning. I continued on into Montgomery County for a long loop before tackling the hill on Germantown Avenue leading into Chestnut Hill. After a couple more miles I ended up back in the Park where I jumped on a couple miles of trails, I was 15 miles in and feeling good.
I eventually crossed the creek and got back on Forbidden Drive. I had about 4 miles to go and decided to see what marathon pace felt like, that is if I could get to marathon pace. I turned up the pace and felt fairly good but I really didn't think I'd be knocking off the 6:45 miles I was hoping for. First 1/2 mile split was 6:11 pace. Whoa. I know the spilt is slightly short but I was still well under 6:45 pace. 1st mile 6:28, second mile 6:30, last 1/2 mile 6:15. Obviously something must be working right to hit those splits after 17 miles.
I cooled down for the last couple miles with a little more confidence for a sub 3:00 performance in a few weeks. I don't plan to taper much this week considering I just have not been putting in a ton of miles. I'll save the taper for the final two weeks.
Sun - An easy 6 with Heather on a much cooler and drier fall afternoon.
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