Every Saturday morning we have the "long run" with the entire training group, coaches, and all that. Most weeks it's at Foster Avenue Beach at 8 am, as it was today, though I got there about 45 minutes early to make sure I knew where everything was, to find parking (which turned out to be plentiful), and to discuss with the coach how to operate my running watch (they had sent out instructions but I tend to learn better hands-on).
Today's run determined what pace groups we would get placed in for future runs. I finished the three miles - some running, some walking, a quick bathroom break around mile 2 - in 38:07, putting me in the 14:00 pace group, meaning that in future weeks I'll be expected to target 14-minute miles. This sounds doable enough - I hesitate to say "easy" since the mileage climbs pretty steadily. Four miles next week, ten miles by July 30, and as high as 26 miles on November 19 (three weeks before the actual marathon - gotta prove you can finish that distance, I guess). Now, at 14-minute miles it would take me six hours to finish a marathon, but (a) the training pace is intentionally lower than the race pace and (b) hopefully I can pick it up anyway.
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