Marathon pace run

The weekend schedule called for a sixteen mile run with ten miles at marathon pace. I faced this with a little trepidation; it would be the longest I would have run at that kind of pace since the DNF at Cork.
I set off towards the Phoenix park and up Chesterfield road. The first three miles felt good but my heart rate seemed rather high at over 150, while going at 08:30 pace! However, the first MP mile elapsed in 07:11 and felt relatively easy. The next few passed in a couple of seconds faster than target pace. Coming on to Chapelizod road meant that I now faced a stiff headwind but I felt strong and maintained my pace. The remaining few MP miles took me through the National War Memorial Gardens and it was quite pleasant along the Liffey.
During the last three miles, at recovery pace, I felt quite tired but felt I could have gone quicker during the MP miles. I was quite pleased with this workout and was a nice confidence booster. Upon review, I also found my heart rate remained in the low to mid 160s, which indicates I could certainly keep that pace for a marathon.

Heart rate