This week I am in full rest mode in final preparation for the
Kansas City Marathon.
There are just two short, easy runs scheduled. I did the first one
today: 4.62 miles at an average pace of 9:58. The only other run is to
be 3 miles at a very easy pace, probably something like 11 min. per
mile, which I'll do on Thursday. In between I will lift weights a couple
of times, stretch, and possibly ride the eliptical trainer.
Over
the weekend I ran 13.1 miles on Friday and then 4.3 on Saturday. The
Friday run was scheduled to be 12 miles, but once I got going I figured I
might as well make it a complete half marathon. I didn't intend to run
it fast, but as the run progressed, my pace fell naturally, so I just
kept it up. I finished with a 1:57:06, and I was
very encouraged by it.
Thinking about my strategy
for the race on Oct. 20, I looked up how I ran my personal best marathon -
3:52:08 in Kansas City in 2008 - to see how I did it. That was a perfect
day for running: cool but not cold and it never got warm at all. No
rain, no wind. Apparently I was in pretty good shape. My watch stopped
working after mile 8, so I don't have splits for the whole way, but I
was officially timed at 2:00:44 for the first half marathon, and then
finished up with a 1:51:22.
With that in mind, on race
day I will shoot for a 2:01 opening half, and then hope for a negative
split and possibly a sub-4-hour race. Last year there were only 19 men
in my division in Kansas City, and only four of them beat 4 hours. I
know I'm capable of breaking 4 hours, but I realize anything can happen
in a marathon, so I'm prepared to take what the race gives me. If
everything holds together I just might surprise myself. -- Rob
