Notes
The 3rd in my series of MP long runs: 21 miles w/ 14 @ MP; again, wanted to start at 6:15 pace and progress down to goal race pace. In this case, drove out to Hopkinton and did a point to point LR, doing the first 21 miles of the course (first 6 miles w/ Shanon then started tempo, tempo finished at the bottom of HBH, jogged up to the top as a cooldown). Thus, my pace goal was really to start at 6:15 pace, speed up through the middle miles, and then just hold steady at 6:15 or better on the Newton Hills at the end.
... butttt pacing really went out the window on this one, because the roads were a mess. For the 2nd time, my planned P2P course LR was sabotaged by snow. The roads were runnable this time, but not in good condition; sidewalks were snow covered (no chance of running fast) and the side of the road was a slushy puddle at best. I was hammering through most of this just to stay anyway close to the pace. Told myself that it was o.k., don't worry so much about the pace and just put in a strong, consistent effort throughout, and try and rock the hills at the end. To that end, I think I did alright. The other unfortunate circumstance was that I had to stop not once, but twice for emergency pit stops - the first at DDs 3 miles in to the tempo, the second at Marathon Sports just under 9 miles in. Not good! That probably helped make the tempo easier (along with a few quick stoplights), but then again stopping and starting does a number on the legs, and my legs were definitely the limiter here over my lungs. Pushing off without traction was exhausting.
Reasonably pleased with this, made the best of a tough day. Not a huge confidence booster, but not feeling any worse off for it either. Slower average pace than the 12 mile MP 4 weeks ago, but this was a tougher course in much worse conditions, so not so bad. I actually felt pretty darn strong on the hills at the end, so that's good. Amherst 10 miler in two weeks will be a good dipstick to see where I'm at, then after the half gotta pick a final goal pace and EXECUTE!
Woke up around 7:30 and had a bagel w/ PB before driving out.
88:17 for 14 miles (6:19 pace)