The Calm Before The Storm

As I came down the stretch from yesterdays 13.1 mile run. I was thinking to myself, boy am I ready to taper. I've run a lot here lately, and am feeling it in my legs and body. I'm also just ready to run this fucking thing and get it done. After May 4th, I will run the Bolder Boulder, and am thinking about the half that goes with the Post-News Colfax Marathon, mostly just to keep my competitive juices flowing. I won't know till July if NY accepts me, or if I will be running the Chicago Marathon in October. What I do know is that I will be taking a break from training for a little while after this marathon.

One of the things that came up during my run with John yesterday was what did I expect out of this marathon, and it raises a lot of questions. I have no problem saying that with the training I've put in, and the course, that I feel like the 3:10 that I was chasing in Phx should happen. I sit here now with the question in front of me, do I run this race, knowing that by running it safely, that I can probably get what I need for my BQ. Or do I try for that extra push, that extra little bit, and try to get this done in under 3 hours. But with that comes the risk of buring out and possibly running a worse time than I did in Phx. I feel that if I ran the exact same pace chart that I did in Phx, that between training, being a better, more experienced runner, and having run a marathon before, that the crash that came in the last 6.2 miles there, should not happen. Don't get me wrong, nothing is in the bag, but I feel good about what I've done, especially in the last month and a half or so. Also, the subject of what would I do if the situation came up and I essentially ran the same exact marathon as Phx? What if I crash at mile 20 again, what if I run a 3:15? Where would I go from there? Obviously I would have to look at my training, but I have written each of my own plans, feeling that I know my body, and my schedule best. Do I turn to someone else's plan, or tweak my own, or what happens from there. With everything that goes into marathon training, each training session is very importaint, and if it doesn't work this time, can I afford to gamble again before Chicago? Lots of things were covered, although none could be answered at the time. When it was all said and done, we finished the run within about 30 seconds of what I told him we would when we first started. And I ran with nothing but a stopwatch running on my wrist. The coolest part was that just over a week out, on a very easy training run, John finished within 5 minutes of his time for this race last year, so his goal time of 5 minutes faster than last year should be attainable. Me on the other hand finished the training run roughly about 20 minutes slower than my race time last year. But what I was looking for out of the run was to find my rhythim on the hills. The right lean, the right stride, the right pace, and I found that. I know how to run flats, and the distance doesn't bother me either, so that's what I needed out of the run.

All and all, it was a great run. Enjoy your weekend, more later...