Big day tomorrow. 26.2 miles. Should be fun. Or, as fun as 26.2 miles can actually be (read: not fun at all).
I can't believe it's finally race weekend. I've been loving the taper for the past few weeks, and tomorrow is hopefully when all the training and tapering come together.
I know I've put this on here before, but just as a reminder (more for myself than anything) here's the goal: 2:25. That's 5:30 pace. Really, I'll be happy with anything sub-2:30, as long as I'm not crashing the last 8 like at Chicago.
Here's a good incentive though: the qualifying time for the Boston Elite corral is 2:27, which I think comes out to about 5:37 pace. So anyway, those are three general times that I'm shooting for. Anything faster would be gravy.
I also don't know if I've ever put this up on here: the race plan. I'm not so much worried about place this time around; I know that if I run what I'm capable of running, place will take care of itself. Besides, this is only my second marathon...I'm still figuring out how to tackle these things.
The first 5-6 miles of the course are pretty rolling, with bridges across the Ohio and Licking and Ohio Rivers the main hills. The first couple miles will mostly be a warm-up, but I shouldn't be going any slower than 5:45 pace from the get-go.
Miles 6-9 are a bitch. Sorry for the language, but that's just the best way to describe it. Leaving downtown, we go up Gilbert to the reflecting pool in Eden Park. Rest. The up Eden Park to the ponds. Rest. The up Victory Parkway to St. Ursula. Done with the hills. On this stretch that's basically all uphill, the goal is just to survive. They're early in the race, there's still a long way to go, and I'm not any good at hills; all reasons not to push them too much. I have more to lose at the end of the race by pushing these hills than I'd gain time-wise.
Let's call miles 9-18 my home turf. Going through O'Brienville, Hyde Park, Mariemont, and Fairfax...I've been running here for the last 5-10 years. Some of these streets I could probably run blind (or, at least without my prescription glasses). There are a few rolling hills, but for the most part the course trends very much downhill. Add that to some fan support (especially through Mariemont -- we run two blocks from my house), and here's where I plan to really ratchet the pace down hopefully.
The rest of the race is back to downtown along the Ohio river. It's generally flat, but definitely trends gradually uphill. There are two little rises I'm worried about (one before Sawyer Point and one by Montgomery Inn), both very near the end (and that's why I'm worried). At this point in the race, the body makes mountains out of molehills -- I mean that quite literally. Parts of this stretch also might be desolate of fan support, which is also a little concerning. These are the miles I tanked in Chicago, and so these are the miles I hope to finish strong and hold pace on.
Well that's the race plan, so we'll see how it actually goes. I know I should race with a watch for splits, but I really hate having the watch on during a race. There's just something about it that I don't like...it doesn't feel like a race if I'm wearing a watch. Plus I tend to get too caught up in the splits and forget to go out and just race. So I think I might experiment a little and run by feel.
And one more thing: the forecast. Temperature at the start should be 62-ish degrees. Not ideal, but it could be worse. By the finish it shouldn't be much more than 70. Same deal. Looks like it'll be mostly sunny with a 7 mph wind and 20% chance of rain. Here's the kicker though: 98% humidity at the start. Assuming I stay hydrated, I'll be swimming in sweat real quick.
Well now I'm pumped to race. If you'll be out on the course, look for me in the bright orange Saucony singlet!
I can't believe it's finally race weekend. I've been loving the taper for the past few weeks, and tomorrow is hopefully when all the training and tapering come together.
I know I've put this on here before, but just as a reminder (more for myself than anything) here's the goal: 2:25. That's 5:30 pace. Really, I'll be happy with anything sub-2:30, as long as I'm not crashing the last 8 like at Chicago.
Here's a good incentive though: the qualifying time for the Boston Elite corral is 2:27, which I think comes out to about 5:37 pace. So anyway, those are three general times that I'm shooting for. Anything faster would be gravy.
I also don't know if I've ever put this up on here: the race plan. I'm not so much worried about place this time around; I know that if I run what I'm capable of running, place will take care of itself. Besides, this is only my second marathon...I'm still figuring out how to tackle these things.
The first 5-6 miles of the course are pretty rolling, with bridges across the Ohio and Licking and Ohio Rivers the main hills. The first couple miles will mostly be a warm-up, but I shouldn't be going any slower than 5:45 pace from the get-go.
Miles 6-9 are a bitch. Sorry for the language, but that's just the best way to describe it. Leaving downtown, we go up Gilbert to the reflecting pool in Eden Park. Rest. The up Eden Park to the ponds. Rest. The up Victory Parkway to St. Ursula. Done with the hills. On this stretch that's basically all uphill, the goal is just to survive. They're early in the race, there's still a long way to go, and I'm not any good at hills; all reasons not to push them too much. I have more to lose at the end of the race by pushing these hills than I'd gain time-wise.
Let's call miles 9-18 my home turf. Going through O'Brienville, Hyde Park, Mariemont, and Fairfax...I've been running here for the last 5-10 years. Some of these streets I could probably run blind (or, at least without my prescription glasses). There are a few rolling hills, but for the most part the course trends very much downhill. Add that to some fan support (especially through Mariemont -- we run two blocks from my house), and here's where I plan to really ratchet the pace down hopefully.
The rest of the race is back to downtown along the Ohio river. It's generally flat, but definitely trends gradually uphill. There are two little rises I'm worried about (one before Sawyer Point and one by Montgomery Inn), both very near the end (and that's why I'm worried). At this point in the race, the body makes mountains out of molehills -- I mean that quite literally. Parts of this stretch also might be desolate of fan support, which is also a little concerning. These are the miles I tanked in Chicago, and so these are the miles I hope to finish strong and hold pace on.
Well that's the race plan, so we'll see how it actually goes. I know I should race with a watch for splits, but I really hate having the watch on during a race. There's just something about it that I don't like...it doesn't feel like a race if I'm wearing a watch. Plus I tend to get too caught up in the splits and forget to go out and just race. So I think I might experiment a little and run by feel.
And one more thing: the forecast. Temperature at the start should be 62-ish degrees. Not ideal, but it could be worse. By the finish it shouldn't be much more than 70. Same deal. Looks like it'll be mostly sunny with a 7 mph wind and 20% chance of rain. Here's the kicker though: 98% humidity at the start. Assuming I stay hydrated, I'll be swimming in sweat real quick.
Well now I'm pumped to race. If you'll be out on the course, look for me in the bright orange Saucony singlet!
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