So I am going to sign up for a 15 mile race 7 months from now. The entire race is at high altitude and a lots of elevation gain. I've only done 5ks before and I always have a lot of trouble with hills. I'm wondering what level of training I'm going to need to do to get better at hills, trails, and altitude. So far my road record for distance is 6mi and my trail record is 4mi.
Am I making a mistake or not (I'm doing this either way)?
This is my training pace for flat 4-5 mile run. The winner of this race averages 7:30/mi because it's so high and hilly. My strategy is to push longer for quick runs without changing pace, and go slower for long runs.