Icebreaker Preview

I did my last run before this weekends Icebreaker Marathon Gold Medal Challenge at the Pettit Center. I ran an very easy 3 miles and felt pretty good. I have been having a little problem this week and I hope it does not affect me. My left quad is a little tight and sore. I think it has to do with the stress from work. I am not sure how stress can make your quad tight but I didn't do anything (that I can think of anyway) to my quad to make it feel this way. I felt this before the Indianapolis Marathon as well. Maybe it is my bodies way of preparing for a marathon. Odd, isn't it? I am not at all nervous about the race, heck it is my 20th marathon, but I still can't figure it out. Oh well, it won't stop me from running.

Here is the time table and my goals/plans. The Half Marathon begins at 7:00AM on Saturday morning. I am in the first of the 2 half races which is the faster runners. My plan is to run easy and finish in about 1 hour 58 minutes. That would be to average 2:28 seconds per lap. this should be no problem barring any unforeseen issues. I am going to keep a pace chart at my personal running area to make sure if I need to pick it up, I can. Sub 2 is definitely the goal here but also do it while using as little energy as possible.

After the race, I am volunteering to help out with the second half marathon. I don't know what I will be doing, maybe handing out personal water bottles (no cups all lowed), maybe something else. Whatever it is, I am glad to help.

Sunday morning is the Full Marathon and that starts at 8:00AM. Here my goal will be to go out at somewhere between 2:30 to 2:35 per lap. This is just at and a bit over 4 hour pace. I will try to keep this pace up for 3 hours and at that point in time, decide if I am going to go for it and go sub 4 hours. This is the ultimate goal, sub 4. I don't think I am all that confident I can do this, but then again, why not? If I can relax in the half and for 3 hours in the full, and then have myself completely mentally into the race, I should have a good shot at it. Realistically I should be aiming for a 4:10 finish time or maybe 4:15.

There are a lot of things about this marathon that you don't encounter in a regular outdoor marathon to take into consideration. The good would be that there are no hills, zero elevation change. The temperature will be in the upper 40's lower 50's the entire race and there will be no wind. There is a water stop every 1/4 mile and I don't have to carry any Gu's, drinks or salt. There is a portolet every 200 meters as well. The bad is that is will be crowded the entire race and I will be passing and being passed the entire race. It is also a very hard surface. About a 1/4 inch of hard rubber over cement.

I am looking forward to a good race this weekend. 39.3 miles is a far way to run but I am up for the challenge, goofy as it is. Wish me luck, I will try to post between races.