Sunday, October 12, 2008

One Week Remaining

The Mt. Desert Island Marathon is now just one week away. Given my recent running woes, I felt it was important to push it a little today just to test things out. Fortunately, it went very well.

I set out with a goal of a little over nine miles at a 7:20-7:30/mile pace. I felt great so I went a bit faster, and was able to do so relatively comfortably. This is not to say it wasn't hard work, but at least the effort felt on par with other runs I've done at this pace on this type of terrain in the past.

Mile 1: 7:52
Mile 2: 7:14
Mile 3: 7:06
Mile 4: 6:58
Mile 5: 6:57
Mile 6: 6:59
Mile 7: 7:04
Mile 8: 7:00
Mile 9: 6:54
Last .2: 6:39/mile pace.

Pretty pleased. This was a run that I needed psychologically. Also worth noting that the fall leaves are at their peak. Sunglasses were a must, not so much for the sun, but for all the bright colors.

Cumulative stats:
Ran 9.2 miles @ 7:07/mile pace.
Paved roads.
Moderately hilly.
Upper 50s, sunny.
Shorts, short sleeved shirt.

6 comments:

Thomas said...

Blazing fast. Now take it easy, and don't do that again until well after the marathon.

Sparkplug said...

Jamie, great to hear you're feeling good for the marathon! We got out for a great run today too to enjoy the ocean views and nice fall foliage but ours was nowhere near as fast as yours!
See you in Bar Harbor :-)

Love2Run said...

Yes, Thomas is right. You did your little test, now save it for the MDI course which you know well. Good luck!

Grellan said...

Great run Jamie - should give you bags of confidence for next weekend.

Thomas isn't quite right commander Mike - he said don't do it until "well after" the Marathon.

Damon said...

If you can run that fast for a training run, going under 3:30 shouldn't be a problem for you. Unless the MDI course is really hard, I suppose. I don't know much about the course itself.

I think I'm pretty close to 3:30 shape, and I'd be in race mode to do 9 miles that fast.

Jamie Anderson said...

Damon - it's a beast as far as hills go. Still, I've run sub-3:30 there the past two years. 95% of my running is on pretty hilly terrain, so I'm at a bit of an advantage over many folks.

Thanks all for the comments, encouragement and support. It really is appreciated!