Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Feeling Good

Wednesday, October 17, 2012  at 5:21 PM
I'll never know what it's like to be pregnant!  And, I think I'm kind of glad.  While my awesomely beautiful wife gets more and more uncomfortable as her belly expands for that little boy inside her, I just don't even have a clue how tough it really is.  Sure, I try to help by picking up stuff off the floor or helping her out of the couch, but I still sleep like a baby while she tosses and turns and tries to get comfortable.  She's such a trooper and doesn't even complain.  I married a good one!!!  6 more weeks to go...


On the flip side, I'm feeling REALLY good!  Not only are my legs feeling fresh and rested, but my mind is in the right place too with all sorts of confidence.  I have been enjoying these taper weeks (maybe a little too much with a lack of almost all running), and I feel like I'm pretty ready for all 26.2 miles.  I did my last "long"(this becomes a relative term when training for your first marathon) run on Monday.  It was a weenie 8 miles.  The craziness is that I had to pull the throttle back the whole way!!  Ever since running the Allstate Half Marathon with Colleen a couple weeks ago, I have totally changed the game plan for race day.  There will be no "banking" time at the beginning, but instead, the goal is to just keep it pretty steady at 9:30 mins/mile.  I executed this on those 8 miles and felt terrific at the end.  I'm feeling good GREAT, and I just want to go out there and have fun.  If I can do that, I know it'll be a great day.

Speaking of a great day, the weather is looking pretty nice...
Hopefully, it will be the perfect race day experience.  If it's not, I don't know if I'll ever run another full marathon (outside of an Ironman)!

The plan is to line up with the 4:15 group and make some pretty quick friends.  That's not too hard for me to do, and I think that they will help the miles click by as we talk about whatever.  I'm sure I'll fade a bit, but if I can just get to mile 20, I think I'll be ok.  The last 7 miles are on a riverwalk that I'm pretty familiar with, and I think that will give me an energy boost.  Oh yeah, and it's slightly downhill for the majority of those 7 miles.  If I can finish under 4:30, I'll be a happy guy!  If not, I'll STILL be a happy guy if I just finish.  :)  It's going to be fun either way.  I'm pretty excited!!!

Here's the elevation profile.  There really only appear to three hills, and one of them is up and over a dam.  Hopefully I won't be doing the marathon death shuffle by then.



Thanks for reading.

10 comments:

Cory Reese

You are going to do awesome at the 26.2!

Very, VERY good plan to not try and bank time. Every single time I have tried to do that, it has always come back to bite me and I end up losing way more time than I gained in the beginning.

(It's always a good feeling to be at the point where 8 miles isn't a big deal.) Good luck!

Karen

I don't know why I was thinking your race was a couple of weeks away... It is this weekend!! Have a great race, so excited for you :)

Your wife looks so cute preggers! Six more weeks- eek!!

Unknown

She looks beautiful!

Good luck with 26.2. You're going to kill it!

Kevin

Good luck this weekend at the Marathon

it's all about pace

so stoked for you both...

good luck in your Marathon

Anonymous

I am so excited for you!! You are going to kill it and I think you will surprise yourself on how well you will do :)

I can't wait to hear all about it!
And tell your lovely wife that she looks amazing and is glowing :)

Beth

You are gonna rock out this 26.2!! I cannot wait to hear how it goes for you. I'll be volunteering that morning at packet pick-up and then I hope to hang around and what people finish.

FYI - after you cross that finish line and realize you just did something amazing, you will want to do another one. (It might just take you a couple of days to realize that ;) )

Good luck!!

Jill

Your wife looks amazing; I bet you guys are getting soooo excited. I am for you guys!!

I'm also excited about your first marathon...honestly, there is nothing like that first one that will forever be embedded in your brain! I think you're going to rock it and in the process, have an absolute blast! Best wishes!

Unknown

Jenn is so darn cute! :)

You are going to do amazing! I love the idea of joining the pace group (are you putting a number on your back???) :) Stay strong, go out slow, and know that you'll totally do awesome. Can't wait to hear how it goes!!!

Caratunk Girl

Omg Jenn is so freaking cute! Love that smile!

I have used a pace group before...at the Disney marathon...i did the half marathon the day before and wanted to have some help..it was good, but my problem is I am super independent and really like to run how I feel. But the group was awesome, and it was more of a 4:30 social hour than a race.

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