Race Pace

Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s)	0:53:16	8:40 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	0:53:04	8:38 pace
Distance (mi )	6.14
Moving Speed (mph)	6.9 avg.	15.4 max.
Elevation Gain (ft)	+118 / -118
Avg. Heart Rate	154 bpm	Zone 4.3
Temperature (°F)	28.4°F avg.	30.2°F high
Wind Speed ( mph)	SSE 2.7 avg.	SSE 4.6 max.

Start Time: 06:10:38 AM

Debating my race pace today. I have very little basis for knowing how fast I should run a five-mile race. I have, in fact, never raced at this distance, so even if I was crazy enough to compare times back to high school, it would be pretty useless. RW had an article in the November issue about an abbreviated taper for Marathons, but included suggestions about tapers for any distance. As such I followed their suggestion and ran 5x3 minutes at race pace with 2 minutes rest between (should have been one, but I could not find the issue late last night). Tried a 7-minute mile pace on but found it hard to get myself comfortably into that stride (my pace settles in faster or slower easily at about 6:30 or 7:15). My hope was to build some muscle memory for a 7-minute pace, but I am not there yet. I am not able to sustain the 6:30 pace and even going out at that pace will hurt my overall performance.



Based on this morning, I think I will try to go out at a 7:30 pace and then kick it up on the last 2-3 miles if I am running comfortably. This still brings me in under 40 minutes (I will be disappointed if that is the best I can do).

Lap (#)	Time (m:s)	Distance (mi )	A Pace	HR (bpm)		Energy (Cal)
				Avg	Max
1	12:01	1.31	9:11	134	156	187
2	2:59	0.44	6:46	169	172	61
3	1:59	0.20	9:49	158	172	30
4	3:00	0.44	6:50	171	175	62
5	1:59	0.21	9:28	160	174	31
6	3:01	0.43	7:02	171	175	60
7	2:00	0.20	10:02	161	175	29
8	3:00	0.43	7:03	171	176	60
9	1:58	0.20	9:54	160	174	29
10	3:00	0.42	7:10	172	177	60
11	18:13	1.82	9:59	150	174	252

Cold out there, but my recent addition kept me very warm. Strangely, my (increasingly smaller) paunch got quite cold. No reason for this that I can figure out, but it was a very odd experience.

I am eager to run the race at this point to see where I actually stand---that way I know what comes next.