TexasLindsey

8.1 miles at 5:30 am. 

Splits

11:02

10:39

10:19

10:00

10:21

9:34

9:43

9:12

9:43

Thunderstorms overnight and into this morning.  My 6 month old did not like the noise and cried all night... exhausting!  It was still storming at 5:30 am... So I didn't get to run in the morning.   I thought I'd run in the evening instead but I got busy getting the house ready for my 3 year old's birthday party and didn't get around to it.  Sometimes life gets in the way.  Oh well. 

Cool and windy this morning.  Ran 9.1 miles at 6:45 am.  It was nice because of the weather but also because it was light outside.  My husband is off work today so I could run a little later in the morning.  My blister problem seems to be going away too.  I figured out to wear thicker synthetic socks and I've been using a pumice stone every day in the shower.  So feeling pretty good today.  No aches of any kind.  There was alot of wind resistance (had to hold my hat in my hands instead of wearing it on my head) but I still ran pretty good pace without feeling like I was working too hard. 

Tomorrow I'm running 15 miles with the group and then coming home and having 25 family and friends over for lunch/birthday party for my 3 year old.  Then on Monday I'm running the Fort Worth Running Club's Labor Day 15K.  When I ran this 2 years ago, I averaged 8:15 a mile... I'm hoping I can at least do that again this time... but I'd be estatic if I get a PR. 

Splits

10:03

9:41

9:24

9:02

9:01

8:44

9:07

9:08

8:14

8:09 (last .15 mile)

15 miles with my group at 6:30 am.  The weather could not be more perfect!!  It was 63 degrees when we started and it only got up to 68 by the time I finished.  Nice.   I was feeling really good.  I got faster and faster as I went.  I started out running with two guys at around 9 min miles... but I was kinda pushing the pace.  One of them fell behind after mile 6 and the other fell behind around mile 11.   So without anyone to talk to, I just kept getting faster.  It didn't feel too challenging though. 

My son's birthday party was later in the afternoon and I didn't even feel like I had been running that much during the party.  I remember the last time I got up to running 15+ miles on my long runs I felt totally wasted the rest of the day... however, I wasn't running as much during the week as I am now.  This high milage training is really paying off. 

Splits

mile 1 - 8:52

mile 2 - 9:00

mile 3 - 8:59

mile 4 - 8:58

40 sec water stop

mile 5 - 8:55

mile 6 - 8:46

53 sec water stop

mile 7 - 8:47

mile 8 - 8:38

mile 9 - 8:38

mile 10 - 8:27

50 sec water stop

mile 11 - 8:23

mile 12 - 8:10

53 sec water

mile 13 - 7:57

mile 14 - 8:11

mile 15 - 8:20

Rest day after Saturday's 15 mile run

THIS 15k TODAY WAS THE BEST RACE I'VE EVER HAD!!    I PR'd 3 times in and during this race. 

When I passed the 5k sign, there was a timer and it was the best 5k time I've ever recorded... 24:30.   If I were really running a 5k, it would have been much better because I would have been going faster.  (I don't run alot of 5k's because I like the longer distances better). 

Then I passed the 10k sign with a timer and it was the best 10k time I've ever recorded... 50:00.  If I were really running a 10k, I would have sprinted my heart out to get it under 50 minutes.  The best 10k before this was 53 minutes.  I have a stated goal to run a 10k in under 50... so I felt so elated that I did that. 

But then the pressure was on.  I just PR'd in 5k and 10k during the race... so I had to make sure that I PR'd for the actual 15k that I was running too.  I was thinking that I wanted to be able to say that I PR'd 3 times.  My previous PR for a 15k was 1:17:07. 

Well, I finished in 1:15:45 according to my garmin (which also said I ran 9.4 miles).  The race results showed my chip time to be 1:15:36.  I am so excited!!   According to my garmin, it was an 8:03 average pace.  Chip time was 8:05 pace.  I've never run that fast for this many miles!   I thought I might get a medal or something... but then I found out that the 3rd place girl in my age group finished in 1:08:something.... so maybe NOT.  Ha, ha!  I got 6th out of 49 in my age group.  So I'm still proud.   I like that running quote that says something about how I like the sport of running because everyone can be a winner.  You're only in competion with yourself.

This running blog is the reason I am doing so good.  The advice of running more miles during the week more days of the week has made all the difference.  I've only been training like this for 3 months... and I just started running again in April after a 9 month break while pregnant.  I am just wondering what I could accomplish if I keep at it. 

Splits

mile 1 - 7:46

mile 2 - 7:47

mile 3 - 8:00

mile 4 - 8:07

mile 5 - 8:13

mile 6 - 8:11

mile 7 - 8:13

mile 8 - 8:11

mile 9 - 8:14

Final .42 mile - 7:25 pace  (my garmin said it was .42 instead of .3)

Rest day after race. 

It was raining all night and this morning so I wasn't able to run at my usual 5:30 am.  My sister came over at 1:30 pm and watched the kids so I could go run.  According to www.weather.com the temp for Fort Worth at this time was 88 degrees, humidity 69 percent, wind 20 mph with gusts up to 35 mph.  

I thought I'd do 6 or 7 miles but the sun was brutal.  I felt the sunburn coming on.  The wind was the only relief from the sun but it was so hard I felt like I was running in place when I was going against it and up hill.  I cut it short to only about 4.5 miles because I started worrying about sunburn but when my husband gets home, I think I might go run another 3 this evening to make up for it. 

This run felt like a high resistance workout on a stairmaster... so I guess good workout!  My watch wasn't charged so I don't know my splits. 

It didn't work out running again when my husband got home.  My son got stung by a bee and it was just too hectic at my house to leave. 

8.75 miles at 5:30 am.   Tonight at 6:30 pm my group has track workout at the Texas Christian University track.  I've been in the past and it's really fun... really nice track too.  I want to go but it's so hard with my two kids to find the time.  I have to get my husband to babysit and then if I run in the evening the kids and myself go to bed much later than usual.  We'll see if it works out for me to go tonight.  Tomorrow the plan is that I'll do another easy 8 in the morning and then Saturday I'm running 16 miles with my group.

Splits

11:06

10:16

10:07

9:49

10:02

10:10 (a cute small dog "attacked" me and I had to stop)

10:19 (dog still following me jumping in front of me slowing me down)

9:56

9:18 (last .75 mile)

Was lazy this morning and didn't get up to run.  At 4:45 am when my 6 month old was waking me up I managed to convince myself that I could take the day before the long run as a rest day.  Then I spent the rest of the day feeling guilty and I looked over my log.  I realized that when I run the day before a long run, I actually have a great long run.  So when hubby got home, I went out.  Probably the hottest part of the day... 5pm.  It was 95 degrees and 55 % humidity.  I thought I'd do 6 miles... but I was actually surprised that I felt great!  I ended up running 7.34 miles. 

Even in all this heat and humidity and sun beating down on me I managed an average 9:10 pace.  Every time I race, I get faster.  I think I need to start incorporating some tempos and speedwork weekly.  To qualify for Boston I need an average 8:23 pace.  I really think that is doable... maybe not for my first marathon on Nov 14th... but certainly at some point I think I could pull that.  This 8:03 pace I just ran for a 15k has got me thinking ambitiously! 

Maybe I shouldn't be this cocky since this is my first marathon... but I'm thinking I could at least pull a sub 4 hour (faster than 9:09 pace).  Last week I ran 15 miles at an average 8:45 pace (getting faster the whole way).  We'll see... I've got 16 mile run tomorrow morning.  I hope all this ambitious talk doesn't jinx me.

Splits

9:15

8:56

9:10

9:33

8:58

9:37 (had to run though grassy median for 50 feet which slowed me down)

9:05

8:12 (last .34 mile)

My running coach cut our run short today because of the humidity.  It was 83 degrees and 75% humidity.  We were supposed to run 16 but we only did 10.  He said next week we're supposed to run 10 but we'll do the 16 instead... so he just switched the weekends. 

It was a big difference from last weekend when the weather was perfect.  Today it was like you sweated and it never evaporated.  I was soaked completely when I finished.  An 8:30 pace felt like an 8:00 minute pace.  I didn't feel that bad but I did go slower.  I ran with this guy and we did 8:45 pace for the first few but then he started fading.  I stayed with him longer than I might have otherwise, but we started talking politics and we got a good conversation going.  Ha, ha!   I finally left him around the 8th mile and I ran the last 2 miles at 8:30.  I thought about running more but my socks were soaking wet and I didn't have another pair.  I'm not messing with any more blisters.  Note to self: bring extra socks when it's humid.

There's 3 girls in my group who run faster than me.  They run long runs at 7:30 to 8:00 pace.  One of them told me she averaged 7:55 per mile for last week's 15 miler.  It is my goal to get up to their pace. 

I love picking people who are better than me and trying to catch up or even beat them.  I like challenges like that more than just trying for a specific time.  A couple years ago this rude cocky guy told me I shouldn't try to keep up with him because I'd get hurt.  He was serious.  Ha, ha!  In my mind I was like, "Thank you.  You have given me a little extra motivation to push it when I feel tired".  He had a target on his back for every run after that.  I had to beat him every time.  It was fun. 

Splits

8:53

8:43

9:06

8:48

9:15

9:34

9:23

9:08

8:32

8:27

5:09 (last .16 mile)

I wanted to see if I could break 24 minutes for a 5k so I signed up for this race last minute.  I did it!  23:49 is my new PR for a 5k.   This was a hilly course and it was hot and super humid (over 70%)... so that makes me even more proud.  It was an out and back course.  The first half went downhill alot... which meant the second half was mostly uphill. 

Splits

7:18

7:38

7:41

7:22 (last .1)

My husband is out of town AGAIN. Today, my sister watched the boys so I could go run today at 11 am. It was HOT (almost 90 degrees), HUMID (over 70%) and sunny. I ran at a park by her house that has a 2.4 mile sidewalk path. It's a great flat path but at this time of day there was absolutely no shade. My plan was to do 3 laps but I only ended up doing 2 laps plus an additional .2 miles to make it an even 5 miles. I just felt like I was melting in the sun. I feel so guilty for quitting.

Next week we're going on vacation. We're staying at a house on the beach of the Gulf of Mexico in Tx. So stay tuned if you want to hear about running on the beach in the Texas heat and humidity. I did find a running group that is running 12-20 miles on Sundays, which is good because I will be there 2 Sundays. I emailed the group and they said for me to come on out to run with them. So I'm determined to keep up my training on vacation.

Tomorrow, I'm going to try to get over to my sister's by 8am so I can run earlier and hopefully more miles.

Splits

9:25

9:25

9:43

9:52

9:50

This was a tough one.  It's been hot all summer but this last week it's started to get horribly humid too.  It's awful.  I'm still depending on my sister to babysit while I run this week.  This time I tried really hard to get over to her house early so I could start when it wasn't as hot.  The best I could manage with my 3 year old and 6 month old was getting there by 9am. 

It was a little better than yesterday.  The first mile was against a wind - not so windy that it slowed me down but just enough that it really cooled me off - which is the reason the first split was so good.  I didn't even feel like I was going that fast that first mile and I was surprised when I saw it was 8:19.  ...But that first mile was all south with the wind blowing toward, then the path turned and went the opposite direction and I guess because I was running in the same direction as the wind, it had the effect of feeling there was no wind at all so I felt like I was in a sauna.  When I went in that direction, the sweat just soaked me.  I figure with the humidity sweat just wouldn't evaporate until I got going toward the wind again. 

So that's how it went around this 2.4 mile loop... one way felt great, the other way was torture.  You can kinda see the yo-yo affect in my splits.  After two laps I was pretty hot and miserable.  I stopped at my car, drank some cold water and sat in the a/c for a couple minutes... then I told myself that if I ever thought I wanted to run a marathon I had to make it at least 8 miles today.   I ran until my watch said 8.1 miles and then I quit... most of the way I was reminding myself to not be a wimp.

I actually had some good times considering how miserable I was. 

Splits

8:19

9:00

9:08

9:28

9:13

9:50

9:47

8:55

I went to the gym today to beat the heat.  I hate treadmill running.  It's soooooo boring.  So I decided to have fun with speed today and just ran a 5k. 

I put the incline at 1.0 because I've read that it has to be at that incline to make it at all comparable to running outside.

I started out first 1/2 mile on 6.8 speed which felt pretty easy. (about 8:45 pace)

Then I ramped it up to 7.2 for the next 1.5 miles. (8:20 pace)

When it said I was at the 2 mile mark, I started increasing speed every 1/4 mile.  So I did a quarter mile at 7.4 (8:06 pace), then another quarter at 7.6 (7:54 pace), then a quarter at 7.8 (7:42 pace) and a quarter at 8.0 (7:30 pace). 

When it said I was at the 3 mile mark, I increased speed to 10.0 (6:00 pace) and ran the last .1 mile of my "5k" at that speed. 

My final time was 25:10 for the 3.1 mile run... but that included my 1/2 mile warm-up.  Looks like I averaged 8:10 a mile.   I wish I had time to do it again and see if I could do better without a warm-up but I had to leave to get my kids.  Maybe I'll do it again tomorrow.

Wanna hear something funny?  I used to run in college on my apartment gym's treadmill all the time.  I didn't race back then... I just did it to stay in shape... BUT I do remember that I would run on a 5.5 speed most of the time and I thought 6.0 was fast.  When I was in really good shape and wanted to show off to a cute guy in the gym, I'd crank it up to 6.5 but I couldn't hold that for long.  Ha, ha!  

It still kinda makes me nervous putting the speed on the treadmill higher and higher... even though I know I can do it... I don't know why.  I also get nervous when I see on my watch that I'm running "too fast"... even if I don't feel bad at that speed, if I look down and see a 7 something, I freak out a little... and then I have to talk myself out of being nervous.  I think I've got some kind of mental block I've got to get passed.   Maybe if I keep doing tempos at track or treadmill I can overcome this. 

My husband's back from his trip so I was able to run in the morning today.  SOOO much nicer!  I'm glad I got a taste of running in the heat and humidity this week because it made me appreciate the cool weather that much more.  My Garmin was not charged, but I used a timer and went my normal 8 mile loop.  I ran it in 1:12:20... so right at a 9:00 pace.  Felt pretty great! 

Tomorrow I'm running 16 with the group. 

Had a GREAT run this morning with my group.  It was humid again but I think running in the heat prepared me for that better than if I had been running in the early morning all week.  Also, the speed workout might have helped. 

I ran with my friend, Brenda, who has a 3:31 marathon PR.  She and I were right behind these other two girls who usually smoke me.  Today we decided to keep up with them.  We were only about 150 feet behind them when she had to turn around at mile 6.5 to go back. 

So on my own I caught up to the two girls in front at the mile 11 water stop.  I ran with them the rest of the way.  I couldn't believe I could hang with them... but I did!   One of the girls and I started speeding up in the last 3 miles... but I just had a second wind or something.  I got up to 7:35 a mile and left her in my dust!!  

So I was the first girl in my whole running group to finish today.  I was 3rd overall behind two guys who run 6 minute pace in marathons - they told me they ran it today at 7:20 pace because it was so humid.

Splits

mile 1 - 8:17

mile 2 - 8:11

mile 3 - 8:25

mile 4 - 8:17

mile 5 - 8:09

mile 6 - 8:31

mile 7 - 8:21

mile 8 - 8:30

mile 9 - 8:19

mile 10 - 8:06

mile 11 - 8:25

mile 12 - 8:05

mile 13 - 8:19

mile 14 - 8:30

mile 15 - 7:35

mile 16 - 7:38 (last .7 mile)

We're visiting my in-laws here in Conroe, Tx before we head to Galveston, Tx for vacation at the beach.  I met up with a running group in the neighboring city called The Woodlands and I ran 6 miles.   This area of Texas is the piney woods with 100 foot pine tress.  It seems like your in the middle of the woods but behind the trees are every kind of business you can think of.  They have a great running club in The Woodlands!   Lots of people and very friendly.

I was wanting to run less than 10 miles because I ran 16 on Saturday... also I wanted to run about 8:30 pace.  Based on that, it was suggested I run with this young girl.  There were several routes and trails we could take.  She said she was running 7 miles and told me there would be water stops so I didn't need my belt.  I thought she might be about 20 years old but it turns out she was 16.  Sweet girl and very dedicated student and athlete... but she did not know the trails and she got us lost.  We ran 4 miles at 8:30 or better but then we started back tracking and getting lost.  She was panicky because we didn't have water and then she started getting upset because she had shinsplints.  She wanted me to leave her and go on... but A. I wouldn't know any better which way to go than she would and B. I'm not leaving a 16 year old lost girl in the woods! 

So we made our way to a main street (with no sidewalks) and were running along doing about a 9 or 10 min pace for a couple miles and then one of the running group people spotted us and offered us a ride back to our cars.   Thank goodness! 

So it was an interesting day.  I'm running with this group again next Sunday for my long run.  Their schedule has them doing 14 but I'm supposed to do 17 according to my schedule.  I met a guy who is the cross country coach at the high school there and next week I'm running with him and his pace group... he says they do 8 or 8:30... so I'm looking forward to it. 

We're out of town for the week.  Ran 7.3 miles around my in-laws neighborhood here in the piney woods of Texas.  So beautiful!  It's really humid here near Houston... but the trees are sooooo tall (100 feet) so it is completely in the shade.  This was a wonderful run.  I wish I could have kept going but I said I'd only be gone a hour so I had to get back.

Tomorrow we leave for the Texas coast to stay for the rest of the week.  I've never run on a beach before.  I've heard I should still wear running shoes so I've brought some old ones that can get dirty.

Splits

8:59

9:05

8:58

9:04

9:04

9:06

8:41

8:04 (last .3 mile)

Ran on the beach this morning!!! It was alot more fun than I thought it would be. The sand was packed down. Great view!  There was a great breeze at my side.  It felt a little like running on grass but without the potholes to roll my ankles.  I'm going again tomorrow but I'm going to do 8 miles.

In case anyone was wondering about the Texas gulf coast... I was surprised but there were no signs of oil from the big BP spill... I guess all that just went in different directions... lucky for Texas.  There were lots of shards of plastic, plastic bottles and other debris... it's so sad to me that people pollute the ocean like this.  

Splits

mile 1 - 9:13

mile 2 -9:30

mile 3 -9:36

mile 4 -9:05

mile 5 -8:30

mile 6 -7:58

Today was more difficult than yesterday at the beach.  I woke up this morning and I was actually a little sore from yesterday.  Sand running is a good workout.  The difference today was that the sun was out whereas yesterday it was cloudy most of the time... also yesterday it even rained a little toward the end of my run.  Today the wind was also blowing toward me... whereas yesterday it seemed to be blowing more to the side of me.  I went 4 miles out in the direction of the sun and against the wind.... then 4 miles back.  The sun makes a big difference... really zaps your energy.  The return trip was much easier but I was really worn out from the first 4 so I still didn't speed up much.  This was a difficult workout but I'm feeling pretty good now. 

Splits

10:11

10:27

10:14

10:22

10:33

9:56

10:00

10:01

9:28

Beach running again this morning.  There was less wind today but it was very sunny.  Saw a 4 foot long dead fish on the beach.  Found a cool sea shell to go along with the sand dollar that I found on yesterday's run.  I'm going to keep them with my race medals as I think the universe must have put them on beach on these mornings in these exact spots in order to reward me for running... because it occurs to me that I found them both at the turn around point.... so I wouldn't have found them if I had wimped out and ran less than I had planned.

Splits

10:23

10:11

10:17

9:59

9:17

8:53

Last day at the beach. There wasn't as much wind as there has been but it was sunny.  Overall, I like beach running!  It's alot more fun than I imagined it would be.  After a few days of this I bet when I get back on concrete, it'll feel like I'm running on air.  I Tomorrow I'm running with The Woodlands running club again.  I think we're doing 14 miles.

Splits

9:56

10:09

10:01

10:20

10:02

9:47

9:01 

Great run today!!  Amazing, in fact.  This is the last day I'm out of town.  I'm at my in-laws house so I ran with The Woodlands Running Club.  This town has an amazing running community.  There are miles and miles of trails that curve through the woods.  Runners are everywhere!   I got there a little late because I got a little lost trying to find the meeting place in the middle of all these hundred foot tall pine trees. 

I got there just in time to tag along with this group.  I didn't even get to ask their pace before we left.  Turns out they are the 7:30 per mile group.  Oops.  That was a little faster than I was looking for.  Luckily, we were only doing 4.2 miles, then we were coming back to the parking lot to pick up more people, get our water belts and go out for another 9.5 miles.

Last week I got lost with this runner's club so this time I didn't want to lose anyone.  I hung with these guys the four miles... The first two miles, my garmin couldn't find satelites so I didn't even know the pace (but I knew it was fast and challenging for me)... when my watch finally started giving paces and distances, I was looking down seeing times of 7:00 pace... and even 6:50.  This was a little scary to me.  Amazingly, I did it though.  I finished right with everyone else... didn't fall behind in the least!  Oh, and there was no stopping for water or anything... The guy next to me said his watch had us at a 7:25 average pace for the whole 4.22 miles.  Wow.  That's a PR for me. 

Ok.  So now I knew I couldn't keep THAT up for the next 10... so I tried to find a slower group.  The next group I got with did an 8 minute pace... which was still pretty ambitious of me even without considering I ran the first four so fast.  BUT I DID IT!   I stayed with them and even talked the whole time.  It was hard but thank god for caffeine gu which I consumed every 3 miles. 

In this group, there were 5 guys who were all in super good shape.  One ran a 10k yesterday in 44 minutes.  He said he'll get better when it gets cooler.  There was one girl other than me... she said her marathon PR was 3:15... but she mostly runs Ironmans and her marathon just recently in an Ironman (after she swam 2 something miles and biked 112 miles) was 3:49.  Wow.   I can not believe I hung with them.  It was fun though.  Oh, and also, they told me the route we were taking was the hilly course... they considered it a hill workout. 

Splits for the 4.22 miles

First 15 minutes had no pace because my garmin couldn't find satelites.

Mile 3 - 7:23

Mile 4 - 7:26

We stopped for about 5-10 minutes and then...

Splits for the second part 9.5 miles

Mile 1 - 8:27

Mile 2 - 8:14

Mile 3 - 8:15

Mile 4 - 8:10

Mile 5 - 8:11

Mile 6 - 7:57

Mile 7 - 8:09

Mile 8 - 8:04

Mile 9 - 7:53

Last .5 mile pace - 7:39

My sister watched the kids so I could run around the park by her house.  It's only 80 degrees and 40% humidity today.  It was much cooler this morning but I didn't get to start running until 11 am.

I was thinking today about what I would call threshold miles, marathon miles, easy miles, etc.  I have improved so much these last three months since joining this blog...  what I used to consider threshold is now relatively comfortable... and what I used to consider impossible to sustain for longer than maybe one mile is now something I can do for at least 4.22 miles (Sunday's run) ha, ha!  It's so much fun to improve this much!  I feel so blessed to be healthy and able to run like this.   

So here's what I came up with: 

EASY are miles at an 8:45 pace or slower. 

MARATHON are miles in between 8:00 and 8:45. 

THRESHOLD is anything faster than 8:00 pace. 

TRACK speed is going to be below 7:00. 

Splits

9:08

9:01

8:44

9:00

9:05

9:07

9:21

8:27

7:07 (last .25)

5.2 miles pushing Jake in the running stroller...  10:30 was the average pace.   We spent an enormous amount of time discussing why there were lanes in the street and why people can't run in the street, and why you have to use your blinker to change lanes... he kept asking me "why", "why", "why"?  And if there was any car that didn't use their blinker...  oh boy!   Three year olds are funny!  Entertaining run.   I think now that the weather is getting better, I'm going to start taking him with me to the evening runs with my group.

8.1 miles at 5:50 am.  The previous two weeks really messed up my running and sleeping routine... it was difficult to wake up early and I started later than I wanted.  I'm so glad I woke up and ran this morning... I am now in such a great mood!  I have run 8 miles and now cooked breakfast and the kids haven't even woken up yet.  It's going to be a great day!   (I'm trying to psyche myself up to tackle all the laundry and unpacking from the vacation... ugh!)

I'm supposed to run 19 miles with my group on Saturday.  There's something really intimidating about that.  I did 16 miles and 14 miles the previous two weekends ... both of which had average paces in the 8:00's... I shouldn't be worried... I can handle this!   Still, I'm nervous.   This will be the most I've ever run in one day.  Two years ago I got injured on the 18 mile training run.  I think I'm in MUCH better shape this time... and I've been logging so many more miles.  

.... ok.... back to the positive thinking...  It's going to be GREAT!  I know it.

Splits

Mile 1 - 9:58

Mile 2 - 9:57

Mile 3 - 9:50

Mile 4 - 9:20

Mile 5 - 9:36

Mile 6 - 9:37

Mile 7 - 9:29

Mile 8 - 8:32

Last .1 mile - 7:47 

-------------------------------

Decided to do a tempo run this evening.  I ran 3.2 miles at a comfortably hard pace.  I would have thought it would be faster than this but then it occured to me that I didn't warm up at all before I just started running fast.  I got a stitch in my side - how odd as that never happens anymore - probably also because I just started running at an 8:00 pace off the bat.  Ah well, learning experience...

I am being precise on my times below because I want to race myself on this same route next time.

Splits

mile 1 - 8:23

mile 2 - 8:25

mile 3 - 8:28

.1 - 43 seconds - 6:40 pace  = making my 5k time 25:59

.1 -  32 seconds - 6:28 pace = making my 3.2 time 25:31