Nine days to Twin Cities
[Drafted Thurs, 9/25/08]
It’s been a solid week and a half since I have posted last. Shortly after my strong 20-miler a week ago Sunday, I encountered a dental issue that caused me some pain and loss of sleep for a few nights. I’ve never suffered migraines before, but I am guessing I know what they feel like now.
So I suffered through a root canal last week and a pretty annoying post-surgical infection, which caused two days of missed work. Note to self: Don’t take Vicadin in mid-afternoon and expect to run or work! So I’m now popping antibiotics 3x per day and back on the running track.
Despite the setback, I hit most of the planned 39 miles last week, although I did have to cut out a 5-mile recovery run on doctor’s orders. I ran a decent 17-miler on Sat, which is one more mile than planned – and a steady 6-miler on Sunday, of which four miles were at tempo pace (6:39). (I have to mention that I went to Wrigley after my 17-miler and saw the Cubbies clinch!)
I am becoming excited about the upcoming TC marathon. Although the mystique of the taper is beginning to weigh on me, I feel comfortable about where I stand.
I should complete this week’s 32 miles as planned without any issue. On Tuesday night, I did mile repeats on the treadmill and hit all three of them at in my target 5k pace range of 6:03-6:07.
I am on a flight back to Chicago now from Baltimore now. I had to push today’s run to tomorrow due to schedule challenges. Starting tomorrow, I look forward to runs of 7 G.A, 5 Recovery and 12 easy on Fri, Sat and Sun respectively to round out my week. Then we enter the final week up until the race.
As always, I will think positively and maintain the confidence that I am in PR shape. Accidentally and perhaps fortunately, my weight has come down the last few days to that magic 167-169 race wt range. We’ll see if it holds for another 9 days. One potential obstacle is a recruiting event that I will attend for my company at Michigan State next week , my alma mater. I know I may want to hit my old favorite food & beer joints right before the race. Willpower!
I will be gunning for a 3:05 in Twin Cities if the conditions hold. Then we’ll talk about how to shave further for Austin in February.
4 comments:
Have a great race. I watched a 2.62 minute video the of the course the other day. It looks to be a pretty course.
Here is a link to the video Darrell mentioned. TCM will be my first and I'm looking forward to it as well.
Good Luck!
Good luck to you on Suday. I read through some of your training descriptions and you are looking good for your 3:05. We are very similar runners. I have the Pitz book and have sort of floated in and out of its programs. I finally broke down and tried an online coach (Greg McMillan) and have done pretty well with that approach. I am running Portland on the 5th, my sixth marathon.
Your last 20 is strong. Solid pace throughout and some serious crank over the last three. This is similar to the long run approach advocated by McMillan. He calls it the fast finish long run. With 8 to go, you step up to marathon pace, with 5 to go to half M pace, with 3 to go 10k pace and work that down to a sprint by the last 400m. Killer workout but very race-specific from an effort standpoint.
Best of luck. You are ready. I'll check back and see how you did. Feel free to email me - dpahl@perkinscoie.com.
Doug
Good luck this weekend!! I know you'll PR, you have had the training and you have the determination. Can't wait to hear about it!
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