Planned ruin 3 hours

Date: 6 June 2010
Time: 3:00:13 min
Distance: 35.34 km

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/35814556

The final 3hr run is done. I have made incremental improvements each time I did the 3hr run, three in three weeks in succession:

Jun 6 - 3:00:13 35.34km Average pace 5:06min/km Heart rate 143 average
May 30 - 2:59:02 34.17km Average pace 5:14min/km Heart rate 145 average
May 23 - 2:56:20 31.55km Average pace 5:35min/km Heart rate 140 average

This one I went out just running comfortably, not looking at 1km splits at all. Looking at the data from my watch, I pretty much held up until around 24kms where I started to slow down. That lines up with what I felt a while after I turned around at 1hr30.

The pace I did was far too fast, that is obvious - and faster than the last two 3hr runs. But I still held on better in the later stages than for any of the other 3hr runs.

I ended up with an average pace of 5:06min/km, which is a shade too slow for a 3:30 marathon. Somewhere between the close to 4:40min/km pace I did for the first 21kms or so and the average of 5:06 is the optimum pace for the 35km distance I ran today.

I just need to figure out what that pace might be. I should have been feeling the effects from the last two 3hr runs today, and that will slow me down. The taper for the next 4 weeks should build on today's effort and I should also be fresher for the race. So I should accumulate more speed and be in better shape.

I can only hope. Now I need to avoid getting a flu or cold and avoid injuries for the next 4 weeks, hit the speed. interval and hill runs hard and eat properly.