The Pretty Close To Perfect Day

It all came together today. The weather, the mood, the gear, the pace, the run. I couldn't have asked for any more than I got.

We did P90X this morning, and I didn't put my regular "umph" into the workout because of a troubled left elbow. So, maybe that helped as well.

I had some stuff to do before my run. But that was OK, because I was waiting...waiting on that temperature. The promise was 39° degrees today. I figured the longer I waited, the warmer it would get. But I had a lot on my plate this afternoon, so I couldn't wait too long. After all, the Keurig is broken, and the caffeine addicts were getting more than restless. They were getting temperamental.

At 11:00, the temperature was a startling 34°. Good enough.

I dressed light. One layer below the waist, two above. Plus a Turtle Fur cap with a hood over it. I slathered up my face with Dermatone, grabbed some light gloves, and off I went.

It was a little brisk to start, but as the first half of this run is all uphill, it took little to no time until I was warm and toasty. The breeze was light and out of the south, so it was into my face for the start. This too, was perfect. It meant a tailwind and a mainly downhill run for the return home. I was diggin' it. I felt good. I felt light on my feet. I kept repeating the words of the Newton dude from the workshop a few weeks ago..."don't try so hard."

So I didn't. I let it go. I started nice and easy. The hills helped me to do that. And I never felt out of breath. If  I started to get a little winded, I didn't try so hard and backed off. Honestly, I was amazed.

My heartrate never reached 180 until the very last quarter mile when I was feeling SO good, I decided to sprint the final few steps. And I could...because I still had it all. In fact, I was this close to making today my long run day. But it is supposed to be warmer tomorrow. Even warmer Friday. Oy, I got some planning to do the next few days. I won't be able to do my long run Saturday as the weather will be wet and cold. Yuck. Not my thing.

So, I ponder the question. Is this my marathon pace? Gosh, I don't know. For sure this would be my comfortable pace, I believe. I wonder, is a comfortable pace faster than marathon pace? Do I already know the answer to this?

I went to the Training Peaks site and to Hal Higdon's forum to ask him what a comfortable pace was a few weeks back. I completely forgot about it. "Mom Brain", I call it (it is not catching, unless you are a mom). Here is what he said:

Marathon pace is the pace you plan to run in the marathon. If you're a first-time marathoner, you don't yet have a "pace." You maybe able to get a close estimate by running a race or two and using some of the prediction engines. That's one reason why I now include half marathons half way through the 18 weeks.

"Comfortable" pace is any pace that you can hold and still conduct a conversation with a running companion without getting out of breath. If running solo, you'll have to determine what feels comfortable to you. And the numbers won't be the same every day. If tired because of a hard workout the day before, or because of other factors in your life, you may experience discomfort sooner than you would than after a day's rest.

You may or may not be able to hold that 8:40 pace the entire 26 miles of the marathon. You have 18 weeks to figure it out. 

I guess that didn't tell me as much as I had hoped. But if I can run my marathon with as much ease as I ran today's 7-miler...well...then...I've got something.

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