I’m running the Victoria Marathon in just three days. And oddly, I haven’t been thinking much about it. Usually, I’m completely obsess over upcoming races…
Maybe it’s a good thing that I’m not so focused on the event. Perhaps, it means I have internal peace…?
Two reason that, perhaps I should be thinking about the race more:
1. missed nearly a week or training runs, last week
2. still haven’t decided on my race strategy.
Last Sunday, ran 13miles and that night felt a cold/flu approaching. It’s not unusual for me to catch a cold during the taper period. After months of pushing the body, sometimes it pushes back. Therefore due to the flu symptoms (achy, runny nose and sore throat), I didn’t run until six days later. Looking at my running log, that is the longest gap between runs since a mid March cold. Fortunately, the cold never took over and I feel fine (knock on wood).
My race strategy changes from day to day. One day I’ll decide to simply focus on running a 3:30 (8:01 pace), which may be a challenge itself while other days I convince myself that I really can get down to 3:25 (7:55 pace) so I should shoot for that pace. And then other days, I’m extra delusional and think 3:23 (7:50) is within reach. My justification for attempting a 3:23 is that I have nothing to lose, trying to run that fast. Worse case, I flame out at 18 or 19 miles, deeply embed myself into “the wall” and must walk/shuffle that last miles. What I’ll likely end up doing is start with the 3:30 pace group and then after 6 or 13 miles, try to pick up the pace.
Bought a new pair of shoes today and ran three miles around Green Lake. New shoes always feel good and I do think they will help on race day. Probably will not run again before Sunday but likely do some walking around Victoria after the Victoria Clipper lands Saturday at noon. Tomorrow, I start some carbo loading and making sure I’m hydrated. And lastly, I should get to bed early tonight since Will is home tomorrow, which means no nap for me. Ok, going to bed now.
