Long Run

Did a hard long run today. Had Liz drop me off 20 miles away (at 92 and 280 on Canada Road). It was hot to start (65+) and hotter at the end (85), and the course had little water so I took a bottle. The road follows 280, thru Woodside, past Larry Ellison's house, over Sandhill road, thru Palo Alto and into Los Altos. A net downhill of about 250' but a fair amount of ups and downs along the way. Plan was to coast to Woodside (7.5 miles) and then run at marathon pace (6:52) into Los Altos (11 more miles) and then coast home.

First 3 miles are little rollers and they go by at 7:48
Miles 4 and 5 climb 250' so I picked up the effort a little but pace was slower at 8:10
Miles 6 and 7 go down 200' so the speed went up to 7:08
- mile 7 was 6:54 so I started my fast miles a little early
Miles 8-11 were up 100' , down 100', rolly, steep down, 150' climb - not much fun - averaged 7:05
Miles 12 and 13 rolled downhill but on cambered roads, dropping 250' so these flew by at just under 6:50
Miles 14-16 rolled up and down and these were at 6:58
Mile 17, the last fast mile was flat and I did that at 6:52 (right on pace!)
Miles 18-Home climbed up slightly but these were easy miles at 7:48

Overall was 20.4 miles at 7:21 pace (3:12 marathon)

The fast 11 miles ended up at 6:59 pace (3:03 marathon), but included a 7:27 uphill mile (mile 11).

Not a great run, but with the heat, and with not wanting to push hard uphill I feel pretty good about it. Hitting 6:52 for the last flat, fast mile was good, and it wasn't a strain. Heartrate was where it should have been for this run, despite the heat.

So based on this I think if race conditions are good and my various achey pieces are in good shape I will go for sub 3 in Edinburgh. Now all I have to do is survive the next 4 weeks.