3.22.09

After our marriage group/church this morning we went out with some new friends for lunch. It was nice and we ate at one of our favorite restaurants here in Knoxville, Aubrey's. After that I really wasn't very motivated to much of anything today. Is that a bad thing? One week out from the marathon and I'm tapering, so I really don't want to overdo anything, which is my usual tendency. I really want to get to the start line as fresh as possible, because last year I wasn't. I wasn't very smart last year and on the Wednesday before I had my track running hills, and so I jumped in with them thinking it wouldn't be too bad. It was bad and I paid for it at the half.

So today I was thinking of doing some speedwork at the track, but I guess I learned my lesson from last year because I decided that it really wasn't going to benefit me that much at the race. Don't get me wrong, I always feel better after getting in some speedwork, but this close to the marathon is asking for trouble I think. So I decided just to run easy around the neighborhood. The sun was setting and I actually ran the last few miles in the dark. We have streetlights of course so it wasn't too bad, and actually since the sun was down it was nice and cool. The legs are still a little beat up honestly. I can feel some tightness and soreness in there so I think other than a few 100 meter striders throughout the week that'll be all she wrote for speed.

Well I'm confident going into my first marathon that I will at least have a chance at meeting my gold goal. I really have no idea and it's kind of open waters as far as predicting anything. I was doing a few pace calculations and if I can make it to the half in 1:26-1:27, I have a good chance to get under 2:55, and if I make it to the half around 1:24-1:25, should be able to pull a 2:50. I'm not expecting to get to the half any faster than that as it's like a 6:30 pace, but who knows, it could be my day. So I have some general ideas of split times that I will use. I dont' have a garmin, and nike+ doesn't give overall pace, only current pace which isn't all that helpful.

Speaking of nike+ I plan on writing a review of the system very soon. I already have a basic skeleton written up, but I'm going to flesh it out more. I love writing in this blog, but because I update it everyday it's more of just a training log than anything. So I'm considering starting a second, more informative blog, where I post opinions and offer up subjects for discussion among other things. Also I would only update it once a week or so, that way I could have plenty of time to research different things and provide better material to read. Anyway that is on the backburner, as I'm solely focused on running my first marathon. But if you read this training log (God love ya) then please leave a comment and let me know if you think it's a good idea.

7pm. home. 67 degrees, wind 15mph (didn't notice?) humidity 32% (nice and cool after sunset)
1:04:12, (9.13) gf 610