The Taper for Nashville is on

This morning was officially my last run over 10 miles before Nashville. I guess I could say it was my last long run. I was actually suppose to be in taper mode anyway but today I elected to run 15 miles. Last weekend was suppose to have been my last 20 but since we did the 1/2 Marathon I was a little short. I figured the hills and race counted for added miles though, at least through effort. So really I should have only done 12 today but what's 3 more miles?

My goal was to run 15 miles and maintain a minimum of a 10:40 pace, which if it was a marathon at that pace would get me in around 4:39. I know thats not going to happen but I have a long shot at a 4:45 I think.

We met the cruiser group at South Side at 7am. There was a large group this morning and there were several new runners from the Women Can Run Clinic. Of course they were not doing 15. Brenda, Annette, Michelle and I were really the only ones trying to do 15. Gary, Curtis, & Rock were doing 10 plus and Cindy and Lisa joined us along the way. We did what I call the big loop around town. Hwy 321 to Mean Pig, then down S. First to Elm, then Left to the High School and right on Belemy to Linda Lane, Dietrich, then Bradley and back on 89 to the school. I like this route as its pretty flat but there are a few smaller hills and one bridge.

I ran this one pretty hard. Annette and Michelle didn't even go down 321, they opted to cut down Kerr and meet up with the others on S First. I didn't realize till later that the other group with the new runners took a different route. Gary, Brenda, Rock and Curtis were flying at the start. David and Rick joined them for the first couple miles then they turned back. Eventually Curtis came back and ran with me. Then after a mile or so he decided he would try to catch the others and he would take off. He would catch them and then come back and run with me some more. I met up with Annette and Michelle about half way down S First. However, I took off just after meeting up with them. I was trying to maintain a pace so I kept pushing.

I pretty much ran by myself through most of the 15. About 10.5 I hit the parking lot and refilled my water bottle. Then I took off looking for Annette and Michelle. I ran a couple miles and couldn't find them. Then shortly after mile 13 there they were. I ran with them till about 14. Then I looked at my garmin and I was 2 minutes behind pace. I told them I was going to have to burn this mile to hit my goal so I took off. Well, I barely missed my goal time but it was still .50 seconds per mile faster than my last 15 miler about a month ago.

Final stats - 15.02 miles in 2:40:17 with an average pace of 10:42. Could I hold that for another 10? Tough question. I was not motivated today other than trying to hit the time. If I had not had my Ipod I would have probably been slower since I was running alone and when I do that I usually end up taking way too many walk breaks. I took too many today, but it was getting pretty warm. Between walks, I would many times be running a consistent 9:35 pace. The more I do it the more I can stretch it out. My 1/2 marathon time for today was 2:19 which was just a minute slower than the race last weekend. Probably the fastest 1/2 I have ever done in training anyway.

I am paying for it this evening, my legs are sore and my feet hurt. Its nice to know that the miles will be considerable less until the marathon on the 26th. I think I'm ready, though you never know what the marathon will hand you on that day.