My long runs are alternating between overdistance for my upcoming race, and essentially the race distance with a fast (race effort) finish. Today was another fast finish. I opened with about five miles at a reasonable but not taxing clip, through the hills to get some good work into my legs, then set out for three miles at a hard effort. As long as I could keep my focus on what I was doing, I felt fast but under control. When my concentration started to waver, it felt like I was losing something and needed to pull it back. Muscularly, I felt good, and was held back by my aerobic system. This may be indicative that all my speedwork this year, though it's helped build the high end, may not have enough to keep up my aerobic strength. I'll test this theory again next year, with more running based on the long steady distance plan. Even with that, I came in faster than I did when I first did this test two weeks ago. I gained about 12 seconds, which may not seem like much, but four seconds per mile is a pretty good improvement. I have some plans that may help parcel out my energies at the race so I can avoid my mistake of going out too fast. We'll have to see if I can get it together in time.
Run: 8.5 miles, 40:23/20:10
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