Two Days Out

The Mrs. and I are headed off to the big race tomorrow. I'll pick up my bib number and all that first thing and then we'll do all our big citying; we'll have an early dinner somewhere nice, maybe see a movie or go shopping, but then it's off to bed so I can be up and moving in the morning. Our hotel is only about two miles from the starting line, so I only have to get up by 6:00 or so to be caffeinated and warmed up for the start.

After that, my plan look like this:

• Get a good start position--preferably a spot from which I can see the 8:00 pacer.
• Run a conservative first four miles. I'll be very happy to run the first four somewhere between 32:00 and 32:30.
• Pick up the pace slightly at the start of mile five and reevaluate every mile or so.
• Plan on hurting for the last two miles, but know that I can hurt more than I use to think I could.

I know this final point sounds like something that goes on the back of a t-shirt aimed at young men who aren't happy working out unless they can feel more bad-ass than all the people around them. That isn't how I mean it however.

The big lesson for me this year--thanks in part to a more reliable HRM--is that I can settle in at a much higher effort level than I thought I could three or four months ago. Intervals and tempo runs were very valuable parts of my training, but where I really began to understand things was in my ten-mile-plus runs. Last year I treated anything that distance as a completion-only exercise. This year I tracked my pace and aimed for specific goals and doing so forced me to understand that there's often (but not always) a little more in the tank than it feel like there is. I'll be wearing my HRM for the race and will be aiming for an AvHR in the neighborhood of 165. Assuming proper hydration that should put me in the 1:40-1:45 window I'm looking to hit.

Updates after the race.