The Rundown

Feeling a bit like I got hit by a car today. But that is to be expected.

I've revamped my marathon plans. I was shooting for about a 3:45 finish time. Now, I'm going to adjust that down to 3:35 to 3:40. This may not seem like a major change, but it is a significant change. (I'm thinking back to when I was regularly marathoning. The Boston qualifying time for my age group was 3:15, but the fastest I could go was 3:20. I just couldn't peel that extra 5 minutes--about 12 seconds per mile.) I've been cautious about setting a goal that is too aggressive. It is one of the pitfalls for new runners and returning marathoners. You get lured in by good performances on shorter runs. I call it the "I Feel Great" syndrome. You know your pace should be consistent 8:15s (for example) but you feel so good doing 8s with the pack for the first 10 miles. Then you say, "ok, I can hold this." You get to mile 19, and all hell starts to break loose. Each mile (they screamed by earlier) seems to last 20 minutes. You're just itching for that next marker, the next check mark that brings you closer to the finish. You look at your watch and suddenly, at mile 20, you logged a 9:15...what's happening? You push harder, wait for what seems like an hour, and check the watch at mile 21. Now it's a 9:32! Oh god, it felt like you were putting out enough effort to do a 7:30 (and you were) but you are moving so slowly, through concrete. And you just keep crashing. When you've finished, the 8s you did for the first 19 don't make up for the crash and burn at the end. You have missed your mark even though you ran a great first 20 miles. Far, far better to negative split (or come close to even splitting). Rein yourself back and save a little something (but not too much). Believe me, this is MUCH easier said than done.

I KNOW that I can do 7:50s to 8s for the first 20. I'm certain of that. What I don't know is how I'll finish if I do. So the plan is to do 8:15s and see how it goes. I think, I'll finish stronger (run a better race) like this. We'll see on 5/28.