Four Weeks Until the Harrisburg Marathon

... or, eight days until the two-week taper begins.

After last weekend's race followed by a 20 miler, I knew I'd have my work cut out for me this week. Wednesday's interval workout went fine, but I was fried by Friday and turned my scheduled tempo into a mini-tempo/easy run.

Today called for 15 milers at 7:35 pace (10 seconds slower than marathon goal pace, which I've decided is 7:25)... Happily, I made it, doing the deal at 7:24 pace (though there was a 2 minute break when I ran back to my car after forgetting my Camel-bak). Runs like this make me think Boston may be a strong possibility. Here's the link.

Knees are hurting, but it's not injury hurting - just stupid runner's knee BS.... I'm taking pills and doing all the stuff I'm supposed to, but I won't let this get in the way.

E-gels arrived this week, and they worked perfect... took 1 at 5 and 10 miles, drank only water and finished the run with a blood sugar of 117. Perfect. Course, 15 isn't 26 and the adrenaline of a race still might trend me upward, so I haven't made a final ruling on the insulin pump for the race... Decisions, decisions.

As we get closer and closer to d-day, I'll finalize my Boston goal and set up some splits. Boston requires a 7:28 pace, and most guides say to race a marathon fairly even... I'm thinking of going out at 7:20, holding that for the first half, and hoping for a 7:30 the second half, which brings me in at 7:25, with room to spare, which I did today, albeit with 11 miles still left to go. But the best news is that (knees aside), I feel really good now - not at all like I was taxed by the effort... as if the peak is beginning to arrive.

Comments

  1. Anonymous1:12 PM

    Wow, looking good Marcus - I see Boston in your future! Your pace inspires me - I could only dream of a pace in the 7's (or 8's for that matter)!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown1:37 PM

    Thanks, Jamie -

    Not much of a secret to getting faster, though. For the first six months, I built a base - whenever I tried to go hard during that period, I was constantly hurt. Once the base is there, though, 1 tempo run and/or 1 interval workout per week will do wonders for your results.

    I do all my recovery workouts on the bike, so that when I'm running, I'm usually only doing intervals, tempos or long runs... modified versions of the FIRST plan (I had to modify them as they were too brutal for me . :) ).

    Train w/ purpose - same way you eat/bolus w/ purpose. ;) In many ways, diabetes discipline and running discipline go hand in hand.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Bill4:39 AM

    Hey Marcus -
    I've enjoyed reading about your running. I've been curious about the FIRST program for a while, your success with it has convinced me to give it a shot.

    Good luck with the Harrisburg Marathon, I'm sure all the hard work you have put in will pay off.

    ReplyDelete

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