Two more sleeps and I will be running my second marathon! Eeep. I haven’t run since Sunday, because my right knee has still been feeling kind of odd and I think at this point an extra day of rest is better than a 3 mile run. My running during this taper has been less than stellar; I guess I took the meaning of taper to a whole new level this time around. But I have two HILLY 20-milers in the bank, and I feel about as ready as I can be at this point. So time to set some goals!
1. Finish uninjured (this is always my primary goal at every race, but it is an important one.) I want to keep running through the summer, albeit at a lesser degree. I might do another half in the fall, but we’ll have to see…
2. Beat my San Diego RNR time of 5:14. As long as I stay SLOW and STEADY and keep close to an 11 minute mile pace, I will be able to do this.
3. 4:45:xx. This is my ultimate goal. To hit this I need to average a pace of 10:53. My second 20-miler (not taking into account breaks for a phone call from Nick, crossing at street lights, and shoe-tying) was completed at a 10:54 average pace. This was on a very hilly route, and the marathon has a lot of downhill running, so I think this goal is within reach IF I don’t go out at the start hitting a 9:53 pace for a couple miles. EVERY MILE has to stay slower than 10:30, even on the hills. The only time I will let myself go a little is going down the canyon, where I will get spit out at Mile 23. If I can carry myself strongly through that portion, I will come out at the bottom and only have a couple miles left. Let’s hope this piece of the course turns out to be what I hope it will be – a great downhill bridge to the end of the race.
Race packet pickup is tomorrow. Then on Saturday morning I will get on a shuttle bus at 5 am (SO glad I am only 5 minutes away from the shuttle bus pickup spot) and then the race starts at 7 am. I’m going to wear some throwaway clothes (that will get donated) because I think the start is going to get COLD at 6 am waiting for an hour in Huntsville, elevation 5400 feet. I plan on wearing shorts and a tank top, since right now the forecast is for 46* at the start, and will get to 59* by noon. Although, we were supposed to only get rain Tuesday and Wednesday this week, and it is still POURING down here and SNOWING up in the mountains, so who knows. If we get a break from the rain on Saturday, it will be a marathon miracle because it will be one day out of 7 that won’t have rain.
I’m going to get to bed nice and early tonight, since who knows how I will sleep tomorrow. Trying to drink plenty of water and now I am really going to start paying attention to the foods I’m eating. I might have eaten french fries, greasy chips and tacos from a local Mexican joint, and potato chips in the past three days. Time to clean my diet up and get some normal food going into my body.
