How far can I run in 90 minutes? Hopefully to New York City.

On Tuesday morning, I did my last "hard" run before Sunday's Oklahoma City half marathon.

My goal pace is a 6:50 mile. So I wanted to run 6 miles at or near goal pace to see how things felt, make sure the legs could handle the turnover for that long, make sure there was, you know, enough tread on the tires.

My first mile was a warm-up in 8:20. Here are the splits from the final 6 miles

2 - 7:21 (HR avg - 79% of max)
3 - 6:54 (HR 83%)
4 - 7:16 (HR 80%) I stopped for a quick swig of water and let the time run
5 - 6:38 (HR 84%)
6 - 6:53 (HR 86%)
7 - 6:36 (HR 88%)

Total time for the 6 miles: 41:39. Avg pace: 6:56

I was running with one of the really really really fast guys in my training group (Roberto) and he wanted to stop for water after we completed the third mile.

I was having a hard time trying to run exactly at 6:50. As my breathing caught up to my leg turnover, my body wanted to go faster and faster. So I found myself running and then slowing down so I wouldn't go out too hard. Surge. Slow. Surge. Slow. See, when all the oxygen is coursing through me and the blood is pumping, my legs wanna run 6:30 miles. But I'm smarter than my body. I know I can only keep that up for 8 or 9 miles, not a full 13.1.

I'm sure my Garmin 305 is going to read the half-marathon course a little long, so I'll wanna have an average pace of 6:45 to meet my goal of breaking 1:30 and guaranteeing myself an entry into the New York City Marathon this fall.

So here is how I will pace myself. I'll do the first half in around a pace of about 6:55 to 7:00 pace, not allowing myself to run under 6:50 for any reason. this will take some discipline on my part. Hold back. Hold back. Hold back.

In the second half, I'll treat it like its a 10k, knowing I'll need to average 6:35 or better over the last half to get in under my goal. This is when I'll let myself red-line a little bit. Go as fast as my legs will carry me and tell my lungs to quit their bitching.

I know I'm dreaming big here, but I'm going to go for it.