I finished the Vancouver Lake Half Marathon on Sunday. The race went great. The weather was perfect, high 40s, foggy, without a breath of wind. The race field was fast, 11 people ran faster than 80 minutes (that's 6:00 per mile or faster!). I was lucky enough to find a fellow runner at my pace and we knocked off 11+ miles of the race together. It really made things feel easy. I ended up just missing my A goal of 1:21:00 minutes, but I broke the 1:22:00 minute barrier to easily achieve my B goal.

Doing some mathematical gymnastics I calculate that my Functional Threshold Pace (FTP) is about 6:07 per mile. Remember, the FTP is the pace I should expect to be able to sustain for 60 minutes (before crashing from exhaustion). Also remember that my goal is to be able to run a 60 minute 10 mile race in April. That means I need to cut about 7 seconds per mile between now and then. I think it is do-able, but it is going to stretch my limits.

Adding this data point to my running record I can see that I am back on track after a fall excursion due to some anemia and a UC flare. Plotting a trend line shows that I should barely get to the 6:00 per mile pace in April (day 853 from the start of my training) if I can track along the best fit line. The pessimist in me says that I was a little slower than the trend line during the last race so it will be difficult to get back on or below the line in April. It also warns me that improvements are going to get tougher the faster I get. The optimist however says I can do it. I may still have lingering UC issues that will clear up over the following months. The race course this weekend may have been a little long based on some gossip I heard after the finish (I can hope). I tend to run the halves a little slower than my shorter races. Also, I may drop a couple more seconds per mile with a longer, more focused taper. Not to mention the actual training plan I am following. I think the structure and slight increase in miles will pay off.

No running today since I am recovering, but tomorrow I will be back at it. Keep on running...