Easy!

This morning I felt the best I have ever felt on a run. The training I have done all summer and even all year has really paid off. Now hopefully if I have played my cards right it will show in the Chicago marathon. I do feel ready. I ran just under 20 Miles this morning as a final long run but i made sure not to run too hard. The goal was to run by feel and set the pace on cruise so it wasn't supposed to be hard. I was surprised at how loose i felt starting and found myself zoning out running just under 6:00 pace the whole way. It felt easy-almost too easy. I couldn't believe how good i felt even finishing up. Have i gotten this much faster? I thought. It was hard to hold myself back picking up the pace.-but i stayed in control. Anyhow i finished just under 20 miles in under 2 hours. I definitely accomplished what i wanted to do, and didn't dig into the red zone at all. So i feel like i am on target. I am learning a lot more about marathoning through self experience, and self coaching. Still though, I really hope i get this one right. Despite all of my other prs in other distances over the past year, i haven't had a good marathon. Perhaps i am ready to finally pr. Or, maybe i am ready to run 540s and break 2:30:00.? Nah, i cant be that fast yet, or am i? These are the thoughts of prerace, what is possible and what will be my strategy on race day? This will come, and i do want to run as evenly as possible, as this is the way i run well..60 miles for the week. The mileage has been conservative the past couple of weeks. The taper is underway.

9/19: 16 Miles FAST!

I ran a killer workout today(one of the final key prep workouts for Chicago), running 16 Miles at race pace effort averaging faster than I have ever run. I started off conservative in 6:00 for the first mile but quickly dropped the pace to 540s most of the way, and it felt good, very good! I learned today that I am fit and ready to roll. The mile markers weren't totally accurate so some are probably faster(a couple 530s there) than they actually are but some are also slower than what they should be. Overall I estimated I averaged around 5:45s most of the way. This definitely felt very close to race pace effort.

Splits:

6:00, 5:40, 5:45, 5:47, 5:45, 5:42, 5:52, 5:49, 5:48, 5:53, 5:38, 5:42, 5:35, 5:45, 5:40, 5:50

~2:30:00 Pace.

9/13: 15 Miles @ Marathon Race Pace

This morning I ran 15 miles at Marathon Race Pace. This is the second of the key workouts I am doing for the final preparation weeks before Chicago.

This workout was done on the canal in my wave riders. I converted the splits roughly as the mile markers aren't very accurate, but overall I was pretty much on target 5:50 pace. I'm happy I've also been pretty consistent. The fitness is starting to sharpen up.

Splits:

5:51, 5:50, 5:48, 5:49, 5:49, 5:50, 5:49, 5:50, 5:50, 5:47, 5:57, 5:42, 5:55, 5:53

Sept 6: 10.5 Miles @ Marathon Pace

Today I ran one of my first key Marathon Pace Workouts for the higher quality training I will be doing this month leading up to the Chicago Marathon. I've gotten my mileage up pretty high this summer(up to 115 MPW) and now's the time to crank up the intensity. This is the runner I identify with. I am able to maintain a certain pace and just click the miles on by evenly. I trained this way before the Frederick Marathon, and I am training this way now except the fact that my miles are being run at 5:50 pace instead of 6:10. I got a good feel for what my goal pace should be for this marathon, and will have a good idea of how my workouts continue. I felt smooth out there and never felt overworked-but on the right plane. I did this workout on the canal to mimic the flat Chicago course:


Splits were very even with the last few miles faster:

5:50, 5:50, 5:50, 5:50, 5:50, 5:50, 5:50, 5:40, 5:40, 5:40

10 Miles in about 58:00.

2:32:00 Marathon Pace.

11 Miles total.


Later on, I went to see the VT VS Boise State game with Beth and Patrick Murphy. We had a great time and even though it was a tough loss it WAS a great game. Other breaking news is that I have decided to move out to live with Joe Wiegner soon! More to come later...

On another note, I ate Famous Dave's Chicken Tenders at Fed Ex Field(highly recommended by Chicken Tender Runner) and they were up to par. Tasty!