Goals

Playlist is done (thank you to those who suggested songs!), last run is done, outfit is picked (I think!), race plan is done. My cold has turned into a runny nose, my back pain subsided, my legs feel good. I am ready to race.

I am planning to race this marathon by feel. I will wear a garmin, I will use a pace group, I will push the pace, but only if my body tells me that it can handle that.

This training cycle has been very different for me. I used a different plan, a hybrid of Hudson's and Ana-Maria. For 3 months I trained concomitantly for a marathon and a HIM. I put in a lot of hours on the bike, swim and run (and loved every minute of it, no joke!). I did very well at the HIM. I made huge progress with my running as well. Looking at my training log, I can see the progression in the pace of my long runs, I can see the difference in the effort level for the tempos, fartlek and MP runs. But then I started having some tough runs. True, the weather was hot for those runs, but I also think that overall my body was tired. I tapered really well, I think, decreasing mileage from 2 peak weeks of 65 miles to one week of 54 and only 30 miles this week. I've gotten 2 massages. This past 2 weeks I rolled, iced and soaked almost daily. I slept in. I did not overreact to getting sick at the beginning of this week, or when I woke up with severe low back pain 3 days ago. I also worked on getting myself to care about this race - I did not, for a while there after the HIM. So, I feel I did everything I could to put myself in a good position for the race.

So here is my race plan:

1.1. Let the legs and breathing dictate the pace for the first few miles.
1.2. Remember that my legs need time to warm up.
1.3. Conserve energy.
1.4. Draft if it is windy (looks like it will be); better slow down and draft than go on my own into the wind.
1.5. Don't get discouraged if the first miles seem hard - I need to warm up!
1.6. There will be good and bad miles.
1.7. "Am I doing my best?", "Can I hurt more?", "I am a machine, my job is to run".
1.8. Run relaxed.
1.9. Take Gu, and salts and water.
2.1. Take deep breaths throughout the race.
2.2. Slow down if breathing becomes to rapid but not because of pain.
2.3. Assess and reassess.
2.4. Fool the brain as much as I can: smile even if I feel like crap, take my mind to a happy place, detach from the pain.
2.5. Believe.

And the goals? 1) To run smart and 2) to put out my best effort. No matter what happens, I will not be disappointed if I achieve these 2 goals. And of course there are a few time goals, but those are flexible, and secondary for me right now.

Good luck to all the racers, Spike, Aimee, Bethany, Ryan, Aron (HM) and everyone else. And those who are injured (Beth) - you'll be stronger at your next race.

See you on the other side!