The other day I made a grilled cheese. Have you ever been eating a grilled cheese and realized it was completely 100% awesome? It's so good that you decide to make another grilled cheese. This is exactly what happened. I finished the first magical sandwich, and then I made another one. The second one wasn't nearly as good. It just wasn't the same. I hate that.
Why does NPR list all the stations it broadcasts on? "You are listening to MPBN, WXYZ, 90.1, Portland, WABC, 90.3 Bangor..." And on, and on, and on, and on, and on. I clearly don't need this information at this time, since I've found an NPR station. I'm listening to it. And, there's no way I'm going to remember all those other frequencies. I'm not Rain Main. I really need those frequencies when I'm somewhere that my usual NPR station doesn't come in, but, of course, I can't get that information because NPR isn't currently coming in. More annoying than the mediocre grilled cheese.
OK, so I'm still sick...Or am I? Perhaps I'm just faking it to lull the MDI course into a false sense of security. It thinks I'm weak, so it will let it's guard down. Yeah, that's it.
That being said, if I was actually still sick. Who cares? I'm still going to win on Sunday. Yup, I'm totally going to win.
Speaking of the marathon...wow, what a surprise, it's on my mind...Anyway, speaking of the marathon, I've been thinking a lot about pace and strategy. I've laid out the plan, and I'm sticking to it. BUT...riddle me this...
Recently, Jeff turned me onto the McMillian Running Calculator, and I'm completely addicted to it. Essentially, it takes a performance at a specific distance and calculates your projected times at other distances. I think some math is involved. Out of curiosity, I plugged in my time from the Mid-Winter 10-Mile Classic this past February: 1:12:15. I ran this race on an average of 12 miles a week, having done no serious running for the previous 10 years. I was fat and straight off the couch. (OK, not exactly, but I wasn't exactly fit.) According to McMillian, my marathon time base on that 10-mile performance: 3:22:22. That's 7:44 per mile. WTF?!?!?! I'm hoping to run 3:49. That's a minute slower per mile. By actually training, have I gotten slower? Less good at running? OR...should I attempt to run 7:44's? I'm not really considering it, but it's intriguing. Seriously, though, what the hell does this mean? Somebody talk me off the ledge.
I can't wait for this damn thing to be over. Sunday, stop taunting me. Get here already! Kill me! I'm heeeyah!
(I couldn't find the unedited scene from Predator, but, you know, any excuse to post something from the 80's...)
6 comments:
FCC regulations require stations to identify themselves every hour near the top of the hour, and since MPBN is simulcast throughout the state, they just say each station out of convenience. Cool, huh?
I've found those pacing calculators to be about as accurate as a crackhead doing trigonometry. Forget about them and trust your training and nobody or nothing else.
See you this weekend and good luck!
Oooooooh Snowman, do NOT fall under the magic spell of McMillan before a race. Erase from your mind whatever it said your predicted pace was. You'll thank me later. Focus on the first grilled cheese. On. The. Cheese.
I tried the McMillan calculator. It told me I was going to get bit by a dog a mile #22. Weird, huh?
Hmmm...let's see. Listen to smart people who have done a bunch of marathons. OR...go with something I read on the Internet. I'm going with the Internet. You know why? Well, doggoneit, I'm a meeaverick!
I don't know much about this McMillan chap, and I don't even know you very well, but I think you could run faster than 3:49. You know your wife is going to and you know how much it sucks getting beaten by your wife!
Calculators don't take into consideration the focused training that you are doing for one event. In February it sounds like you didn't have much of a mileage base, but you could crank out a pretty good 10 miles. Now you have a much stronger base, and it sounds like your training has been focused on the marathon. It's possible that the longer runs made you lose speed over shorter distances, but you've gained endurance strength and the ability to maintain a certain pace for longer. In theory you could probably run much faster than 3:49 based solely on your fitness level. But a big part of long distance running is mental, and that stuff only comes through experience. I would recommend that you pace yourself somewhat conservatively to avoid hitting the wall too hard (chances are you will hit it at some point) but it would be great to come away from this race thinking "I feel pretty good, I'm going to do another one and I'm going to do it faster" rather than "I feel like shit and I'm never running again."
But like Jamie said: Trust nobody else!
Ian - But with your plan, I'd actually want to do this again. Hmmm...that goes in the "CON" column.
Post a Comment