Fast Finish

One of the tools I've tried to incorporate over the past couple of years, is the "Fast Finish" Long Run.  Basically I'll try to run the first 80% of my run at a nice even pace, and then speed up a little on the last few miles.  I've found that more than anything else it helps mentally in the final stages of a race.  My thought process is that if I can actually speed up on the final leg of a long run, hopefully that will translate to an even pace in the last few miles of a marathon.

So this morning in 70 degree temps, with 92-97% humidity, and a gusting 2 mph East wind, I ran 21 miles with this approach.  And actually, considering I was completely saturated by mile 5, the run went fairly well.  From my splits on the left, you can see I tried to keep the pace slow and "warm up" for five miles, plus I made a couple of bathroom stops without stopping the clock.  I then stayed around a really fairly smooth 7:05 for the next 11 miles.  Finally I dropped below 7:00 for the final 4 or 5.  And considering those last 5 miles were on the hilliest portion of the course (by design), I was fairly happy with my pacing.

I was kind of worried when I started the run because I was STARVING!!!  I used to use the phrase "Starving like a P.O.W." all the time, but I just finished reading Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (about American Hero, Olympian, and WWII P.O.W., Louie Zamperini), and frankly now, it just seems insensitive.  Anyway, I didn't really do a great job of fueling up yesterday, so I was really happy that I got through it in the shape I did.

Plus, when I started, my legs were still a little fatigued from the race last week, and a tough week of training, but I'll recover for a couple of days, and really load up on protein today, and I should be fine.  Anyway, it was a pretty good outing, all things considered!
... be great today!