Cancellare, Take 2

Last week wrapped up on Sunday with an 18 miler. It actually turned out to be a just short of 19 miles - about 18.82 or so. I once again had the pleasure running with Rich Cancellare for the middle portion of 11.32 miles. We rendezvoused at the lake path at Wilson and ran down to Ohio Street beach and then turned around.

Basically here are my splits:
The first 3.75 miles were run at roughly an 8:25
The middle 11.32 miles (with Rich) were run at a 7:43 pace
The next stretch of three-quarters of a mile was probably about an 8:30 or so.
The last 3 miles were also run at a 7:43.

So, it was definitely a very good run. I felt pretty good throughout and Rich is a huge boost to have running right next to me. He set his Garmin to have us run at an 8:20 pace. We slowly started out ahead of pace and picked it up withou much of a problem as we went along. Sometimes you can get in a groove and pace kind of becomes an afterthought. And most importantly, I felt healthy throughout the run. But as Rich said, the true test can be how you feel the next day. That next day was today and I feel good. Just a little regular post long run soreness. So, it was a very good ending to an up and down week.

The week ahead looks something like this:
Tuesday: 11 Miles @ 8:15
Wednesday : 11 Miles @ 8:15
Friday: 9 miles, 7 @ 7:00
Sunday: the original plan is a 20 miler @ 8:15, with the last 9 miles run under an 8 minute pace

I am unsure if I am going to proceed with both the 20 miler this coming Sunday as well as the 20 miler scheduled for September 21st. I am not sure if running two more 20 milers at this point will do more harm than good. I may turn one in a 16-18 miler and focus more on pace than miles. Or I may just do both 20s. I will decide later this week after I see how I feel on Friday night or Saturday.

Only 6 weeks to go! Have a good week.