Gail and I decided to run the ORRC 30k at Champoeg as a training run. We have a goal race of doing the Vernonia Marathon in early April. Neither of us ran much this winter. I think I got 65 miles in January and barely 100 in February. I got out often just short distances. So we both made out training plans and figured a while back that we better get the long runs in if we were not going to die at Vernonia.
Champoeg park had an issue with the wooden bridge this year so instead of running 3 10k loops we did 6 5k loops, which by the way I really enjoyed. It seemed to go by much quicker running the nice 3.1 mile loop rather than going all the way out to the east end of the park before turning around. The weather turned out to be perfect! Probably 57 at the start and mid to low 60's by the finish with touches of blue sky.
Ever since my injury my training pace is just over a 10 min/mile. Slow yes but it is what allows me to continue to run. My goal for Vernonia is a 10 min pace or about a 4:25 marathon. So I figured if I could do a 9:30 pace for the first 20k then see how I feel for the last 10k. Well I felt pretty darn good. I had some great chats with other runners and the volunteers. So I figured I would just keep on doing what was working. I ended up running exactly a 9:30 pace. So I finished under 3 hours and felt great after the race.
I will most likely get a 50k at Pacific Rim One Day Run in two weeks at Longview. I always enjoy this course and I will just make it a run/walk but ensure I get at least 20 miles of running in. I will probably just do a 11 minute pace, so I don't over due it. Take some good breaks and just enjoy the day. I would like to get one more 16 to 18 mile run at race pace so that will probably happen two weeks prior to race day.
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