Bring on Austin - 12 days out

I am getting slightly anxious now that the marathon is coming up pretty soon.  I am excited.  It's been four months since I set my current PR at Twin Cities and it feels like that was years ago.

I have not run a single race since Twin Cities on 10/5/08.  It's been all solo training, with an unexpectedly high percentage of mileage on the treadmill.

On Saturday, I added yet another indicator toward my sub-3 fitness.  I ran a simulated 10k on the treadmill at 1.5% grade in 37:47.  Details of the workout are here.  This translates to a predicted marathon time of 2:57.  Wow.

Historically, I have struggled putting in strong long runs the day after an intense race pace workout.  Surprisingly, Sunday's pre-Super Bowl 17-miler felt reasonably strong.  The weather finally broke to the low 30's.  I ran a complete long run outside, thankfully, for the first time in weeks.  

I averaged close to 7:15/mile for the entire run with no problem and finished at goal marathon pace for the final mile.  My second half was definitely stronger than my first half.

I am feeling overall pretty good about my fitness.  It appears that putting in the highest mileage in my life is about to pay dividends.  After putting in weekly training volume in the consistent 60's combined with plenty of speed & tempo, not to mention a peak of 72 miles, my workouts are a breeze.

I'm trying to maintain my weight in the range of 167-168 lbs, which is my current sweet spot.   

And the taper rolls on... 46 miles planned for this week.