10 days to go

The marathon is only 10 days away. I'm so excited! Redemption? Or, a repeat of last year? Hopefully, at the very least a fun race.

This past Sat. I finished my last long run. We did a hill run of almost 12 miles. We ran this about two-three months ago and it was very difficult. It is still a little difficult, but much easier now that I have had a couple more months of training. So hopefully that's a good sign. The run has a lot of hills which makes it difficult, but also very fun. I find enjoyment in running hills. You have a chance to focus on your form and breathing. There is also a sense of accomplishment with each hill you climb, especially if the hill is difficult.

I also finished my last Yasso 800s today. I've been a bit under the weather this week (great timing) so I did not feel like running tonight after work. I wanted to go home and just rest. But, I forced myself to the track and had an okay run. My 800s (10 of them) were between 3:16 and 3:31. Yet, I went slow doing the down time of each 800. However, I finished all 10. My last Yasso 800. Hopefully these 800s will help.

Now the big issue on my mind is my plan for the marathon. I don't want to go out too fast. Yet, I really want a sub-4. My concern is burning out the last portion of the marathon and falling off pace so I initially wanted to run the first half faster to give me lead time. Yet, most things I read seem to state it is best to go for a negative split or run each 1/2 the same pace. Thus, I'm thinking about running a 8:50-9 min pace the first 13 miles and then try to run a little faster the second half (maybe only 5 seconds a mile faster). This would still give a little room in case I have a bad mile or two in the second half.