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So my fall marathon in now less than 24 hours away. I stopped by my running store on Thursday to replace the sunglasses that got stepped
on accidentally. As usual, the owners ask what I was training for and they go out of their way to make customers happy. I snagged a new pair of Tifosi Saxons. When I checked out they gave me some Shot Blocks on the house and Pom told me I look a little bit like Dick Beardsley?! I don't see it but I hope I run like him in three days. After all his PR is 2:08 something. Thanks for the ego boost.
Where does the time go? Work, work travel, coaching flag football, etc have all
conspired against me writing my blog. Anyways....I am
in full taper for Milwaukee. I have averaged 64 miles over the last 8
weeks. I was using Pfitz 18/70, the same plan from my PR. My
training has been pretty solid except missing a day here or there for non-injury reasons. I am hoping the second year of Pfitz 18/70 will give me some benefits and make me stronger.
Here is the thing though, I have ZERO races to gauge my fitness. My
last race was a trail half on tired legs at the end of July (1:41:0) so I
can't use that. Or a 4m race on 7/4 at 27:56? Or a 5k race on 6/14 at 21:04? Or a 10m race on 4/10 at 1:12:39? I'm flying blind so I
only have to point to last year's training and race. My longest MP run on 9/6 was 18m w/ 15 at MP. A really good run, buoyed by the cooler temps. Average was 7:53 pace but most of it was at 7:51. The weather will be cold (high 40's F and dry) so there should be no excuses there. The course runs north to south and the predicted wind will be out of the west.
I did my final 5m run yesterday before Sunday's race. I make it a point never to run
the day before a full because my legs feel much fresher. My training paces have been equivalent to last year. My hope is to
PR. My goal is
to run between 7:49 (3:25:00) and 7:53 pace (my PR). The weather will
be cool the entire way with a an 11:00 AM finish at 49F.
I would love to hear your wild guesses on my time tomorrow.
In other confidence boosting news, I am officially accepted into the 2015 Boston Marathon! I got my confirmation a couple of weeks ago. It will be my first after qualifying last year in Milwaukee. I have have been chasing the Super Bowl of marathon racing since 2009 and it's been a long term goal of mine. I don't think I'll run Boston in 2016 but I would love to qualify again.
Lastly, a little bit of motivation. Yes, I'm a sap and running geek but this trailer has always been my pre-game pep talk.