Brick with MRP run

Today's workout: Biked 45 minutes. Windy. Had to test out my race wheels and make sure all is well for tomorrow's race. Felt good. Scared the shit out of a runner. She was in the bike lane running toward traffic (which is the correct way to run), but she wasn't paying attention. She was looking down at her ipod and fiddling with it. When I run, if I see a biker I always hop up onto the curb or sidewalk to let them pass. Biking is dangerous enough, my rule is that when I'm on my bike I do not leave the bike lane. Drivers hate cyclists and will use any opportunity to run us over. If you leave the bike lane, they feel entitled to hit you. Anyway, she wasn't watching and I was approaching at about 20 mph. I yelled 'heads up!' and she about jumped out of her skin. Thankfully she got out of my way. I don't mind runners/ walkers/ etc in the bike lane but it does annoy me when they don't follow the traffic rules. Like when people run with traffic. So dangerous. And stupid. Or when people bike against traffic. Again stupid. Anyway, stepping down from my soap box......

After my quick ride I threw on my running shoes and hit the road. As I was leaving the neighborhood at about 1/4 mile in, I remembered that today was supposed to be at Marathon Race Pace. I looked down at my watch and thankfully was running fast already. So I picked up the pace just a little bit. It took about 3/4 mile to settle into MRP. I'm used to running at 8:45-9:15 pace. And I'm used to running at 7:45 pace. My goal was to run about 8:10-8:15 and it was really tough to find that pace. The first two miles were right on 8:12. The next two miles were 8:04 pace. And I used the last mile to cool down but still ran a faster than normal pace. In assessing my workout here's my thoughts: It was a good idea to bike first as I was already warmed up and could immediately hit my target pace. I might continue to do a short ride before each MRP run. Even 30 minutes on the bike would do it. I HAVE to run 8:22 in order to qualify for Boston. My plan was to train for 8:10 pace to give myself a little leeway. I need to go back to the books and calculate what I'm capable of. Maybe 8:00 is realistic and I can use that as my MRP. Or maybe I need to plan for 8:15. Either way, today felt good and I'm glad.