Last Long Run Before the Race

Today I set out to run my last 5 miles before the big race this Sunday. I planned on just running an easy 5 miles with no goal in mind but to finish. After a few minutes of stretching and getting some water into me I was off and running. I had a little trouble getting into a good rhythm but it worked it self out quickly. After the first ½ mile I noticed that I was running a little faster then normal. How could this be? I wasn’t going any faster then I normally do, I think? First mile – 9mins 13sec. Pretty fast considering I still have 4 miles to go.

While running the second mile I began to think about my running form, specifically how my feet hit the ground while running. I have noticed in the past that most of the time I am a heel to toe type of person. And from what I have read, that could be a bad thing, especially when it comes to shin splints. So today I began to land more on the mid portion of my foot rather then the heal. Second mile – 9mins 30 sec. Wow another sub 10min mile, Nice! But would I regret it later in the run? I was running faster then normal and I can only think it was my new foot placement while running that made me run faster. Third mile – 8mins 02 sec – Holy Cow??? Still going along at a good pace and felt great. Fourth mile – 9mins 19sec. On the last mile and I started to feel tired and my breathing became very heavy. Looking at my watch I knew I had a chance to run 5 miles in 45mins. So I struggled to continue my fast pace and had to stop for a 20sec walk break to catch my breath and relax and then back off again and once I could see the mile marker I ran as fast as I could to come in at a time of 45mins 30secs. That was awesome! If only I can repeat the time this Sunday it would give me a huge boost in my confidence to finish the race in under 2hours. I just don’t want to drain all my energy on the run. So I will see how everything is shaping up on Sunday to determine how fast I am going to run.

I got my bike back from the shop I plan on taking a ride on the bike course tomorrow. That would give me a great sense of what is in store for me on Sunday.