One is the Loneliest Number (Read 852 times)

Disclaimer: this is my feeble attempt at humor. any resemblance to an actual race is strictly coincidental. The First and Only Very Lonely Kevin's Favorite Route Half Marathon 10 Miler The only reason I'm calling this a race is that I'm stuck on following the Boston Athletic Assn rookie marathon training program, and it called for a 10-13.1 mile race today. I guess I'm too lazy/dumb/insecure to think I can come up with my own training program. It was going to be a little longer, but we won't go into why I stayed in bed too long to have time for more . I took it easy the first mile, which is almost all downhill, then started my race. Had to work pretty hard up the hills the next 2 miles, but I was able to stay around 6:20 pace. Finally got to my favorite part, a quiet gravel road, where the only vehicle I saw was an Amish (actually Old Order Mennonite) buggy. Had to stop twice in the first 5 miles to tie my shoes. If it was a real race, I probably would have double knotted them to avoid this; but today I didn't want to miss out on the rush from stopping and bending down to tie them (see the long ago post about this--from Lynn, I think). Besides, since I was the official timer, I just stopped the clock. Held the pace pretty good all the way, and although I was tired, I think I could have finished 13.1 without much slowing. Finished the 10 miles in 1:03:30 -- a 6:21 pace. I have a real half marathon race in two weeks; the McDonalds X-Country Festival at Maymont. After this run today, I'm looking forward to defending my age group title and improving on my time.

Great run... did you sprint for the finish?? I love your humour...good luck with your next race..

Who was on your shoulder pushing you to that fiery pace? Man, I'm slow!

Thanks everybody. Not sure why I wrote this. I think the idea of trying to keep up with my brother and run under 3 hours at NYC marathon is making me crazy.

Thanks everybody. Not sure why I wrote this. I think the idea of trying to keep up with my brother and run under 3 hours at NYC marathon is making me crazy.

It's the running, period. I think it makes us all a little crazy. Great job on your race. I have to second what the above poster said........I'd like to get in ONE mile that fast.

Thanks Jeff. It still seems like the outer limits of my capabilities, but I guess that's what a goal should be.

I ran a HM all out about a month before my spring marathon, and my eventual marathon pace was ~20 seconds slower per mile. My 10 mile hard tempos were about 25 s/mile faster than race MP. Just sayin'.

Yeah, that sounds great. But when you apply those pace differentials to slow (and old) mere mortals like me, the differences seem to grow.

Yeah, that sounds great. But when you apply those pace differentials to slow (and old) mere mortals like me, the differences seem to grow.

You're right to think percentage, but even thinking of it that way there's still some cushion left over for 7:00 pace. I'm too lazy to crunch the numbers right now...all I'm saying is you are in the ballpark. All that's left is to swing and hit.