Let's Do This

Seriously, does anything fire you up more than Asia?

This will in all likelihood be the final post before the marathon. The cold is mostly gone. Not completely, but what can I do? There's a medical tent at this thing, right?

Despite what you may have read, I will not be deviating from my plan. I will still be going out easy, with the goal time of 3:49.
Here are the splits that I'm going to focus on:
1 mile - 8:45
6 miles - 52:30
12 miles - 1:45:00
Half - 1:54:38
16 miles - 2:20:00
20 miles - 2:55:00
21-26.2 miles - bring it

So, there it is. We're headed to Bar Harbor tomorrow to pick up our numbers and such. We'll probably do another drive of the course, too.

Say "HI" if you see me tomorrow. I will be the only guy NOT wearing running shoes, jeans (most likely a braided belt), a technical long sleeve from a road race (tucked in), a technical running cap and a Boston Marathon jacket. Seriously, though, why do runners do this? I get it. You run. Congrats. But you're making us look like tools.

Also, feel to say "HI" on race day. I'm not sure what shirt I'm wearing yet, but I will be wearing a gray hat and camo Moeben sleeves. Why? Because they're freakin' camo!

Now to really get fired up the Greatest Music Video of All Time:


If you fail to see the unadulterated awesomeness of that, it's just not going to work out between us.

Burning the Second Grilled Cheese

I needed to run today. It was essential. I hadn't run since Sunday due to my cold, and I was starting to freak out. Additionally, I haven't been sleeping. Lots of staring at the ceiling at midnight. Good times. Tapering is awesome.

So, I got out this morning. Like the second grilled cheese, I was really looking forward to this run. It was meh. So so. I didn't feel very good. In fact, I felt downright sluggish. I had no energy. Uh oh. Of course, this is how you're supposed to feel when you're tapering...um, right? I haven't tapered for so long, I can't remember. The real downside was that while I was running along feeling like boo boo, I started thinking the dreaded negative thoughts. "I've been sick, so maybe Sunday won't be my day." AHHHH! Be gone evil demons! In the last mile, I did a pretty solid job of exorcising those wicked spirits as I felt better and better as I finished up my run. How did I do this? I kept thinking about all the people I'm going to pass in the final 5 miles of the marathon.

I've also decided that marathon weekend is going to be awesome 80's dance party weekend. The iPod will only be playing tunes from the 80's. The drive to Bar Harbor is going to be so much fun! (D hates me already.) And, for your viewing pleasure, if bands sang exactly what was happening in their videos:

Why Are You Taunting Me?

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...)

This Is Not Going To Help

D has a cold. She gave it to me. Aside from the whole contagious thing, I wouldn't recommend hanging around with us right now. We're cranky.

Official MDI Marathon Preview

That pretty much sums it up. After a ten year hiatus from running, I've gotten back into it this year, and I think I'm ready for MDI. I'm not afraid, but I don't really know what I'm getting into. I just don't whine as much as Luke.

Last weekend, D and I did our official course preview. It's going to be hard. The whole thing is bumpy, and there are a number of big hills. The biggest hills seem to be from mile 9 to 10, from mile 16 to 17, and from 19 to 20. Then it gets interesting. It's basically all uphill from 21 to 25. I have no idea who devised this course, but he was most likely dumped by his girlfriend the night before. It's definitely going to be a test. It's beautiful, but I doubt I'll appreciate it during the race.

Since this is my first marathon, I'm not really sure what to expect.



Oh, yeah, that.

Anyway, here's my basic race plan: I'm going to treat the first 12 miles as warm up. Twelve miles has become a real comfortable distance for me. There are water stops every two miles, so at the 12-mile aid station, I'm going to take a quick break. After this, I'm going to start to pick it up gradually from this point through mile 20. Just a touch quicker. Everyone says, the marathon starts at 20, so I want to feel solid at that point. I think with this plan I'll feel tired-ish, but ready to work. Mile 20 to 21 is flat-ish, so I'll regroup as best I can, then go to work. Every time I think about the marathon, which is often, I see myself running well on these hills. All my training runs have been hilly, and I ran up Mt. Washington this year. I'm sure I'll be playing that mental game with myself. In my last long run, I felt great the last few miles, so I think I'm ready to go. Again, I've never run this distance, but I feel ready.

As far as time goes, the number in my head is 3:49. That's 8:45 per mile. That's the pace I'm planning for the first 12. For a while, I was considering running without my watch. I don't want to get caught up time. I want to pay attention to how I feel. But, I know that without my watch, I'm guaranteed to feel great and go through 5 miles in 39 minutes. That would be really bad. I'm going to have splits for 6, 12, half and 20 either memorized or written on my arm. (Sorry, Ian, no pace tat.) Again, I don't want to get too caught up, but I want to have some kind of gauge. Ultimately, I'd be happy to be under 4 hours, but I haven't ruled out being able to run faster than 3:49. Not to sound like a broken record, but I just don't know what to expect. I'm optimistic.

I'm feeling good. The PF is minimal and shouldn't be a factor. D and I did our last long run today. Well, it wasn't long, but it was 8 miles. I actually felt a bit sluggish, but it was very comfortable. (The sluggishness could easy be contributed to the super delicious, homemade french toast and homefries for breakfast. Oh, bacon, too.) I think that's a normal taper feeling. I will admit to being nervous. My stomach was a mess a couple days ago, and I have more zits than a freshman gym class. But, if I wasn't nervous, I don't think I'd be ready to run.

So, there's less than a week to go.

Playoff Baseball is Bad for Me

I didn't plan on it, but I stayed up last night and watched the Red Sox game. Why don't these games start at 7:00 like regular season games? I can't stay up until midnight every night. I'm way too old for that. I'm hoping for a blowout tonight, so I can go to bed early.

Ran 3 miles today. Nothing to report. Although it was really hard to keep it to 3 miles. It was way too nice out today to just be running 3 miles. Oh well, need to keep to the plan.

PF Factor: .01. Feeling better each day.