Switcheroo to Key Run Two!

Week 4 Key Run 2 (on a day it should be Key Run 1!)
Planned Workout: 8 miles @ MPM
Actual Run: 9.2 miles in 1:07:05 min. @ 6:35 a.m.
Weather: PERFECT!--Cloudy, 61°F, 78% Humidity, Wind: From NNE @ 13 mph; feels like 61°F.
Average Mile Page: 7:18 min./mi.
Course: A slight variation of the Southwedge 10K, inlcuding a run through the heart of Highland Park, found using USATF Map It!

Fortunately (I suppose) I will be participating in an organized run later in the week that will allow me to meet the expectations ("speed work"--BLECHH!) for "Key Run 1" so I'm doing the old switcheroo and substituting Key Run 2 in for my first planned training run on the week.

Today's run is intended to be performed at "Planned Marathon Pace", or PMP, which is just what it sounds like: the pace at which one is intending to run their marathon. For me that would be around 7:30 min/mile. Of course, maintaining this pace is not an easy task given that 1) I am using my ten dollar Target watch to do so and 2) it's pretty gosh-darn fast!

AS I closed in on what I thought might be the eight mile point (I had figured I would go slightly longer) I tried to push the tempo so that I could achive the desired average miel split... while I am unsure how consistent my pacing was, I did actually go faster than I was supposed to by about eigth seconds per mile.

Following the workout, my knees were a little achy, signaling to me that I need to continue doing a little more warm-up "jogging," or "loping," in advance of engaging in the tempo run.

Breathe in, breathe out… YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!