Tonight, I finished my training for the 2011 Chicago Marathon. Overall, I have to say that this, my second year’s training has gone pretty well. In all, since the beginning of 2011, I’ve put in 714 miles. I am super thankful to have been blessed with health through this past 16 weeks of training.
While I set out to incorporate cross-training and strength training into my weekly routine, I think I rode my bike once…did a little better with the strength training but fell off in the heat of summer busyness. But still, I’m pleased with how my training went. Out of 35 training runs (3 per week), I only missed 2. This was a huge improvement for me over last year. I think I averaged two runs a week last year and some weeks only got in my long run. So I’m feeling really good about that.
I’ve been injury free this year! I attribute that to the leg strengthening I was doing early-on (wall squats, mostly). My left knee’s bothered me since I was training for last year’s marathon. It got better this year, but I still feel some discomfort in it from time to time, especially in the later part of long runs. I’m going back and forth with what to do for it on Sunday (Do I tape? Do I wear a sleeve? Or do I just go and hope it’s a feel-good day?).
While I lost somewhere around 30 pounds last year (running less, mind you), I think I lost a total of 2-3 pounds TOTAL this year. (If you’re one of the 2 or 3 who check this blog periodically, you probably noticed that I stopped posting Monday weigh-ins pretty early on 🙂 ) This has been a real frustration, but I’ve chosen to focus less on the weight and more on being thankful for a lack of injuries and an ability to get out, run, and feel like I’m improving.
My main goal this year has been to train so that I could finish the marathon in 4 hours (well, break 4 hours, really). I can’t say that I’m incredibly confident about this; I feel like it can only happen if everything goes right on Sunday. I definitely feel like it’s achievable, and that makes me feel pretty nervous. My longest training run was supposed to be a 22 miler while I was in Florida a few weeks ago. I got cooked alive by the sun and died after 18 miles. My confidence was sapped. But then, I remember that I put in 2 twenty milers prior to that Florida bonk, and upon our return to CHicago, I put in a 13 miler at a pace faster than my target and felt great.
I just really don’t want to blow it.I know that it is really all about those last 6.2 miles. And that final 10-k is as much mental as it is physical. But I’ve realized what has made me miserable during longer runs, and it’s especially clear that this hit me hard in my first marathon: Thinking about the finish is deadly for me. I start getting impatient and antsy, anxious to be done struggling.
And so, here’s my strategy for race day: I cannot think about the finish until mile 25. Until then, I’m going to take the race one mile at a time. This will be my thought, because it will be true: This moment is a gift. I want to soak it all in. I want to run with joy. I want to cherish every stretch of Chicago street and just stay focused on each moment as I’m in it. What an incredible blessing an privilege to get to run in this race…I don’t want to waste it (and torment myself in the process) by focusing on the finish line.
Also, I don’t think I’m going to run for negative splits (aiming to have a faster second half). Even in high school cross-country, this strategy has never worked for me. When I get to the second half after holding myself back in the first half, I just cant find the giddyup, and my whole race ends up being slow. I know it goes against conventional wisdom and that it’s potentially dangerous, but I think I’m going to just aim to push myself to bank a little time in the first half to accommodate for losing a minute or two in the final 13.1.My hope is to average a 9:08 over the course.
Lastly, I learned last year that my GPS watch is unreliable on this course because of the underground stretch at the start of the race. For this reason, I’m going to set up my watch to only show my time (not my average pace nor my distance). Then, I am planning to look for one of the temporary tattoos with all the split times for a 4 hour marathon (Really, they have these…Hoping to get one at the expo tomorrow!).
And at the end of the day, no matter how Sunday goes, I am thankful for this experience.
Dan, in real Life 