T - 29 = 6 + 10 + 4

I've decided to not partake in the 10 mile race (+10 miles after) tomorrow, and instead met Bruce for a 20 mile run this morning. Why not race? Coach Sisson told us on Thursday morning that we had the option to either race the 10 miler or run it at Marathon Goal Pace. Since I don't feel like there's any reason why I need to prove myself racing a meaningless 10 miler, my decision was easy to make. Especially since the price for the "race" went up to $60 on Thursday. Yeah, no thanks.

Bruce and his son joined me/us for the UT game and as the kickoff was at 11am, we needed to be done by 8am, so we'd have time to drive home, shower, meet up, drive back out, and be there for some pre-game breakfast taco festivities.

There was a supported run this morning starting at 6am, for 14, 16, 18 or 20 miles, so we decided to run 6 miles easy pace, then meet up with the crowd for the 6am start and do the 14 miler. The first 10 at MGP, then the last 4 as cool down miles.

Taking it easy these last 10 days has worked like a charm, because I'm definitely back from feeling tired, and felt great and strong the entire way. Here are our splits for the 10 MGP miles.

7:00
7:01
7:04
7:19
7:12
7:05
6:56
7:05
7:07
7:02
Total: 1:10:51 Avg: 7:05

I can't make up my mind on how I feel about those miles. My MGP for a 3:10 marathon is 7:15. We repeatedly kept talking about our "apparent pace", feeling like we were a little fast at times, but REALLY felt like we were slowing things down enough after a few miles to really lock in 7:15. However, we also both felt great and didn't feel like we were pushing the pace at all.

Overall, Bruce said his GPS read an average pace of 7:26 per mile for all 20 miles, which would be a 3:15 marathon. (My Boston qualifier)

A nice confidence boost confirmation run that we're ready for the challenge in 29 days.