Some thoughts on training

I've been analyzing my finish time in Sunday's marathon and (for once), trying to nail down what I did RIGHT! I've already talked about the fact that I followed Hal Gigdon's training program more carefully and did ALMOST all my speed work and didn't simply run slower to avoid injury. However, there was something else that was different this time around. I didn't overtrain! I did follow Hal Higdon's advanced marathon training plan, but I noticed a couple of weeks ago that the plan I was following lacked an 8-10 mile run midweek, like the plan I had followed before had. There were no mid week runs over 5 miles.  I'm certainly ok with doing higher mileage, but I'm thinking that this allowed me to do my speed work more effectively. I also refrained from doing a bunch of extra cycling. I did weight train, but I really did try and save my energy and focus for my MAIN goal which was a sub 4 marathon. 

Now, armed with this feedback, I am looking forward to my next goal and FOCUSING on achieving it. One thing I will say though, my legs are still very sore and I have only run one mile since the race. The lower inside of my right shin STILL hurts, so,  I do see the potential for injury.  I will have to keep that in mind as I shoot for faster times. In any event, I am excited! 

I think I will be doing The OC half Marathon on May 6th, where I would like to do around 1:45. My PR is 1:48:17. I think that is doable, given my splits in the full where I was definitely holding back because it was a full marathon. The half is and has always been my favorite distance so I am looking forward to really nailing it. My Niece Stephanie and her Husband Jake will be doing the 5k as their first race (which I am very excited about, and hope to be the first of many for them) along with Brittany doing the half. Then, most likely the Long Beach Marathon on October 7th, where I will try and take everything I learned from Surf City and try and better my time. These three races make up the Beach City Challenge and earns you a cool medal, so why not? I love these races anyway! Brittany has committed to all three and I am looking very forward to doing them with her. It is great to be excited about doing races agin. I realize how much I really miss it! 

I am also registered for the Malibu Creek 50k on March 3rd. When I registered, I had thought I would be working until mid March, then have a little time off. The plan was to do my tour (whether running or cycling) from Blaine, Washington to San Diego, CA as soon as I was done with this job. If I was to run it, I figured it would take about two months. I have been also giving serious consideration to cycling it and making it more of a laid back trip where I could have the flexibility to see all the great breweries along that route and see more things and meet more people along the way. I got a call a couple weeks back and got offered to shoot Motocross starting in May, with a couple shoots at the end of April. I shot Supercross for three seasons and love the gig, the people and of course the travel, so I took it. This changes my plans a little for a Canada to Mexico trip. Hmm... what to do? I could fit a cycling trip into that window, but I would have to back out of the 50k since I would need to leave in a couple of weeks. I will be done with the job I am working on, BUT, I started thinking about my training for the upcoming races. Yes, I would be riding the whole time, but it is certainly not the same thing. I don't want to just run these races, I want to better my times and really focus. I've also been getting more dedicated to strength training and muscle building and riding a bike from brewery to brewery WILL be a bit of a setback in that area as well. SO... I have a lot to think about. Right now, it is just trying to prioritize and decide what appeals to me the most. I would also be doing the ride (running it does seem out of the question at this point, given the time constraint) in the rainiest season. I haven't decided yet, I will just keep an open mind and let circumstances point me in the right direction. Either way, I have great things to look forward to and that in itself is a nice change.

Paul

Finally.... A SUB 4 MARATHON!!!!

Boy am I happy to finally be able to write this post. I finished the Surf City Marathon in 3:56:16!!

I went into the race hoping to finish in under 4 hours, but told myself that I would be happy just to PR. Well, I did both and PR'd by over 10 minutes. I couldn't have been happier.

The wonderful weekend started off on Friday, when my race buddy (and daughter) Brittany and I went to the expo. We love Expos and spent over 3 hours going to every booth, checking out the merchandise and trying all the samples. Unfortunately, our favorite vendor, Dirty Red Gear, wasn't there so I wasn't able to buy Brittany anything from her, but we did see some other cool stuff like this.

Which is something I say, but wouldn't wear. And, this

Which is something we both say, in fact it was printed on Brittany's bib for the race. She didn't end up getting any clothes but we did get new race belts from Hippie Runner and they worked great. They were lightweight and didn't bounce during the race. Yeah, we really do love the expos!

Leaving the expo, we had someone take a picture of us at the entrance and as we were going back to my truck, I looked into my window and caught this.

The inside of my truck was dark but the reflection in the side view mirror was glowing. It was phenomenal! Even better than what I captured, as when I finally got the door open and lined up the shot, the sun had set a little more and it was glowing a little less intense than it was a minute earlier. Nevertheless, it was a magical moment and a precursor of the weekend to come.

My start time for the full was at 6:30 and Brittany's was 8:10 for the half. With almost a full 2 hours between our start times, I wasn't sure if Brittany wanted to go that early with me, but she said that she wouldn't want to sleep in on race morning anyway, so my Dad was kind enough to drive us both down to the race to avoid parking issues and we got to enjoy a perfect morning together.

We got there so early, it was dark and there was hardly anyone there yet.

A few minutes before the start.

I was very nervous for the race. I trained right on my paces and managed to stay injury free, so I put a lot of pressure on myself to achieve my goal. In the past, I know now, that I had trained too slow. I had had injuries and started doing low heart rate training. Well, too much of that makes you... slow! So, I really stuck to my prescribed paces for a 4 hour marathon and this time would have no excuses.

I also decided that instead of going out at a 9:09 pace and trying to maintain that throughout the race (putting a lot of pressure on myself in those last 5 or 6 miles to not slow down) I would do what I know is not recommended and go out a little faster and bank a little time. I was pretty confident I could do this since I did my last 22 mile run at 9:11 pace and that was a training run and felt fine at the end.


Here are my splits with heart rate.

Mile 1 8:41 167
Mile 2 8:25 179
Mile 3 8:25 179
Mile 4 8:38 181
Mile 5 8:19 179
Mile 6    8:25 180
Mile 7    8:16 183
Mile 8 8:21 182
Mile 9 8:35 180
Mile 10 8:10 178
Mile 11 8:27 177
Mile 12 8:33 177
Mile 13 8:23 178
Mile 14 8:17 180
Mile 15 8:33 181
Mile 16 8:30 180
Mile 17 9:03 178
Mile 18 9:30 175
Mile 19 9:25 174
Mile 20 9:56 173
Mile 21 9:49 174
Mile 22 9:23 175
Mile 23 10:10 173
Mile 24 10:33 173
Mile 25 10:31 174
Mile 26 10:13 175
Finish 9:27 179

My overall average heart rate was 177, compared to previous marathons, this was 2-3 bpm lower, so I definitely don't feel like I went out too fast. I slowed at the end mainly due to fatigue in my legs, not overall fatigue and when I finished, I felt great everywhere except my legs. I felt much better than I had in any prior marathon. I had figured that if I could get to mile 20 by about 2:50 minutes, I would have an hour and ten minutes to do the final 6.2 miles. I got to the 20 mile mark at 2:53 and felt comfortable with that. I kept doing math in my head and knew what pace I had to maintain to come in under 4 hours. My legs were feeling heavy and I walked the water stations the last few miles and did a gel and some shot bloks that were provided by the race. By 3:30 I only had 2 1/2 miles left and was pretty sure I was going to make it. I did get a slight cramp in my left calf that luckily didn't turn into a full cramp, then about 5 minutes later, got one in my right calf. I thought, that might be the only thing that might actually stop me from my goal. Luckily it didn't. 

Running all of those "marathons" across the country really helped me mentally in the race. It has erased the stigma of 26.2 miles in my head. Yes, there are all the physical things that happen when running 26.2 at this faster pace, but I have run more miles so many times that I could tell myself that it was "no big deal". It worked enough to keep me going and not slow too badly. I only had one pace group pass me and that was the 3:55 pace group. I have had pace groups pass me in past races and it is so demoralizing. Watching your dream go past you literally sucks! But with a 1/2 mile left to go at 3 hours and 50 minutes, I was sure the 4:00 pace group wouldn't pass me this time. It was the best half mile of my life. I enjoyed knowing that I was finally going to break 4 hours and let myself smile and enjoy the crowd. I opted to not listen to any music this race as well. I'm not sure if that had anything to do with it, but I sure did not miss it. I felt more present and was able to be in my head more, mostly in a good way. 

My Father came out and cheered us on at the finish. Brittany finished the half in 2:28:33 and her goal was 2:30. Mission accomplished for her as well! We met up with my Dad and went to the beer garden and met some friends, then, met a coworker of Brittany's who organizes the cycling volunteers and had a great conversation with them over some Stone IPA. Wow! what an epic day!

Now that I have finally ran a sub 4 marathon, I need to come up with another goal. I would need to shave 26 minutes off of that time to qualify for Boston. Somehow, that seems a little less out of reach now!

Paul

Goals are good!

Yes, goals are good! It's funny, I kind of forgot this for the last year or so. It was hard to get excited for a race, but once I committed to doing the Surf City Marathon, everything just sort of fell into place. My training has been going very well. I have a goal time in mind and my paces have been right on target for my projected time. It has been nice to be training at higher paces as opposed to the slower paces that I was training at in preparation for my run across America and the couple +50 milers I did earlier this year. I have a 5k this Saturday that I am running with Brittany and I am very excited to be able to do races with her, now that she is a California girl again :)

I would love, of course, to PR the 5k. I'm not sure if I can do better than a 23:13, but I'm gonna try and it's gonna hurt. I get the most nervous for 5k's because there is no time to settle in. It's uncomfortable the whole way at close to my max heart rate. I prefer half marathons, but there's nothing like a 5k to see where you are really at.

I have retired the Vibrams for the time being and have been running in these.

The New Balance Minimalis shoes. After running so many miles in the Vibrams, I needed to find a very light shoe and these are working great. There's no doubt the Vibrams helped my form tremendously and switching to these shoes has made running a faster pace seem almost easy. And now, I can step on rocks and I don't feel it. That's a good thing!

So, I have taken my own advice, registered for races and have very specific training runs in my calendar. All is right with the world.

Paul

Surf City Marathon

Have you ever had such a bad headache that once it was gone, you felt better than If you had never had it? That describes, pretty well, how I feel right now.

Chris and I finished the run one year ago on Wednesday. It's been an interesting, and quite honestly, a tough year. Ive struggled with setting a new goal, which for me and most people reading this, I'm sure, is a must to keep my sanity. My only real goal for the last year has been to see how much of the beer, that I've been brewing, I can drink every night. Of course, I'm pretty good at hunkering down and achieving the goals that I set for myself..... this probably hasn't been the best thing to spend my time on.

Depression!

Since I have been back from the run, I have become FASCINATED with history, particularly American history. Seeing so many amazing places across this country, especially east of the Mississippi, has given me a voracious appetite to learn as much as I can about our past as a nation. In my studies, I have been especially interested in the Lewis and Clark expedition. For obvious reasons, I am intrigued by their story of crossing this country. It's easy to draw a parallel between theirs and our journey, although, I will concede that even though the "Galt" and the baby jogger and Chris's bike and trailer were harsh conditions, they didn't compare to what Lewis and Clark encountered on their journey west. But what is no doubt the same no matter when and how you embark on such a long trip, is how you are forced to look inward and confront yourself, sometimes what you see is good, sometimes it's not so good. Also, the things that everyone gets accustomed to, the daily routine where your own little world, with it's trivial details, becomes drastically stripped away and suddenly, it's hard not to see the bigger picture. The TV doesn't matter, who's ON the TV, REALLY doesn't matter. How many toys you have or how nice your clothes are, just doesn't seem important. It's hard to step back into "regular life" where those priorities are crammed down everyone's throat 24/7. It's easy to feel like an alien at times.
I've told the story of all the people that tried to hand me money when I was pushing the baby jogger. They thought I was homeless. It makes me think sometimes. "Homeless"?? It has such an automatic negative connotation to it. I'm not talking about freezing, starving people here, with children, looking for shelter. But I would venture to guess that there a a good number of people who CHOOSE to be "homeless". They are "dropping out" if you will, from the rat race that has been created as a result of the industrial revolution. I've seen a documentary on this and there were several people who said it. They don't want to play the game. And I understand. The rat race is a hard thing to go back to and it's hard not to ask "why?" Even though it was way back in 1809, I wonder if these weren't some of the feelings Lewis and Clark had? Sadly, Meriwether Lewis shot himself. Luckily, I haven't been that depressed.

Selfish

I've talked about it before, I believe that the thing that I needed to discover about myself, and I DID, in a REALLY BIG WAY! Was how selfish I've been my entire life.
One of the hardest things for me, has always been to find balance. In this case, it has been about being strong, being true to yourself, not letting people get in your way, being goal oriented and accomplishing anything at all costs!! But, in doing so, I realized out on the run, that I have hurt many people over the years, not caring how they've felt, only caring about myself. It wasn't malicious, it's that my priorities were wrong. I thought that the ends justified the means and that if I could achieve everything that I wanted, I could provide everything to the people that I loved. There's that saying "The road to ruin is paved with good intentions".

It's easy to only think of yourself. More so now, with the "Me Generation" and our reality shows, facebook feeds and twitter feeds all about US. Even my blog, is mostly about me. We have slogans "If it feels good do it!" Or my new favorite "Follow your heart". Which the more I think about it, is just an excuse for people to do whatever they want, often ignoring any commitment they have made. Like they need to do whatever it is that they are being lead to do by some inner voice. I've always listened to that voice inside me, but I've also argued with it when I need to. When we have people like Kim Kardashian (who I have no kind words for) saying that she "followed her heart" and filed for divorce 72 days after getting married. Clearly, not everyone should be listening to their heart.

Of course, listening to your heart can be a really good thing. Again, it's all about balance. As it's never good to hurt someone else. It's also not good to hurt yourself. In my pursuit of being "selfless" I managed to lose myself. It's been nobody's fault but my own. I stopped thinking about me and what I wanted. I stopped communicating with friends. I stopped dreaming about the future. I stopped living, basically. I was waiting.... waiting for something that I had no control over. I've always told my daughters that the best way you can be good for someone, is to be the best person you could be. Here I was, not taking my own advice. Finding that balance is hard. For me, it is being strong, motivated, goal oriented and driven, without hurting anyone in the process.

So, why am I laying this all out in my blog? Because I know we all deal with this in some form or another. If you do endurance sports, you've no doubt wondered if all of your training is taking too much time away from your family. Or if the hobbies you do are worth the time you devote to them, etc. My conclusion is to exercise "rational self interest". I think of it this way, if a plane is going down, and you have a baby next to you, it's better to take the first breath from the oxygen mask, so you can keep giving oxygen to the baby. That's not being selfish, that's balance!

So, I've finally started thinking about me again and registered for my first big race since being back. I'm doing the Surf City Marathon on February 5th. Pretty cool since this was my first Marathon back in 2007. It feels great to be training for a race and have a training schedule in my calendar! It also feels good to be me again, this time, hopefully keeping all of my priorities in order.

The agony of da feet

Oy! Sorry I just couldn't resist, for it is my FEET that I will blame for Sundays disappointment. Let's just get it out of the way-

4:24:07

That's close to 17 minutes SLOWER than lasts years race... I am supposed to be getting faster not slower.

Here are my splits, just to drive the point home.

mile 1 8:59

mile 2 9:10

mile 3 9:12

mile 4 8:52

mile 5 9:04

mile 6 8:54

mile 7 8:32

mile 8 8:50

mile 9 8:50

mile 10 9:00

mile 11 8:56

mile 12 9:06

mile 13 9:14

mile 14 9:24

mile 15 9:25

mile 16 10:06

mile 17 9:46

mile 18 11:14

mile 19 10:43

mile 20 10:45

mile 21 11:21

mile 22 11:46

mile 23 12:29

mile 24 12:22

mile 25 12:10

mile 26 11:32

last .2 10:36

I didn't even make it to mile 15 before I knew things were going south on me. But to be perfectly honest, looking back, I am surprised it went as well as it did. Because a week before the race, I could barely walk. My right foot was so jacked from doing 120 miles in three weeks in the Vibrams that I wasn't sure I could even run the marathon. 2 weeks before the race, every time my right foot hit the ground, it felt like someone was jamming a hot poker into it.

Yes, I overdid it... BIG TIME! But there was a reason. I usually buy new running shoes every 300-400 miles. I had been running in my present shoes about 600 miles (do I REALLY need to buy new shoes every 300 miles just because they SAY I do?). They were literally starting to fall apart and I was faced with a decision. Do I buy another pair of shoes so I can safely finish out my marathon training when I really want to buy the Vibram Five Fingers? Or do I go Gonzo and buy the Vibrams. Ignoring all the advice about safely transitioning to barefoot running and proving that 1. not only do I NOT need the overpriced shoe casts that the Nikes and Asics sell to us runners every 3 months or so, but 2. I also have an extremely high tolerance for pain and I can H.T.F.U. and suffer thru it.

I'm a DUMBASS!!

I ended up with the Vibrams AND a nice new pair of Asics Gel-Hyperspeed 3's

At least they are racing flats and very light. I did the last 2 weeks of training in them but unfortunately the damage was done. Starting barefoot running is a lot like starting running period. When you start running your body has to adjust. During this period of time, if you go too fast, you run the risk of injuring yourself (achilles tendonitis, plantar fasciitis). Even if you don't injure yourself, there is a period of adjustment where you feel little pains, like shin splints. You need to start slow, to give your body enough time to adapt to the new stresses you are putting on it. I have given this advice to many new runners. Well since running barefoot changes your running form so much (a good thing) then it stands to reason that a different set of muscles are used as well. It ALSO stands to reason that the same precautions should be observed if you go from running close to 5,000 miles one way and then switch everything up overnight. Duh! Enough said.

My Asics sure were purty at the race!

If I had to put my money on what went wrong, I would say that it was because I spent the last 5 weeks doing less than quality training. And if one things for sure, you cannot "wish" yourself a marathon PR. Yes, running and races are a large part "mental" but you cannot fake a marathon. The training has got to be there if you wanna improve your time. It wasn't, so I didn't. Well, it was 5 minutes faster than the LA Marathon in May. So I guess I can be happy about that.

So, Long Beach is behind me and I now have ONE focus. "The Run for Liberty". Yes I will be doing the run in the Vibrams and yes, I will pull my head out of my ass and transition wisely this time. Thankfully, I will have help with that. I have hired a coach to help me prepare for the run. I am really excited about it. He comes highly recommended and he is going to help me with my training and nutrition. I am sure I will be posting a lot about that in the next four months.

118 days!

Time flys!

Paul

8 weeks to Long Beach

I am half way through my training plan in preparation for The Long Beach Marathon. I really do love this point in a marathon training program. I love high mileage! I feel pretty relaxed most of the time and find it very easy to sleep :) This week I will run 54 miles and it will look like this..

Monday: 4 miles- easy

Tuesday: 10 miles

Wednesday: 5 miles

Thursday: 45 min tempo

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 10 miles- marathon race pace

Sunday: 20 miles

I am feeling really good and I have been training at the paces that would indicate a sub-4 marathon. That would be sweet! I will be visualizing a 3:xx:xx on the clock from now until Oct. 11th. And, of course, praying for great weather!

We shot more footage on Sunday for my "Run for Liberty". I, once again, was not at a loss for words as I rambled on about all things running. I really do love this sport and get VERY excited when I talk about it. We have enough footage for our first piece and Chris is editing it now. It should be done in the next few days. I am working on the website in the meantime. I am more than excited to get this first clip up!

I am looking for a Trainer and Nutritionist to help me prepare for the run. It's not easy, since this type of endeavor has it's own specific challenges. You can't open up the Yellow Pages and find "Transcontinental run" under "Trainer". In any event, I think it will be similar to training for an Ironman, as opposed to training for a 5K. I will need to get my body used to staying aerobic for anywhere from 6-10 hours a day, pretty much everyday. And preparing my body for the pounding it will take day after day after day. And then, of course there is the nutrition part. I see a LOT of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in my future! By the way, why is it that so many runners and triathletes love PB&J? I digress.... If anyone knows of a trainer or nutritionist that might be qualified in this area and is not camera shy ;), please let me know.

Paul

The Quest for Sub-4

Tomorrow, I will start my training for the Long Beach Marathon. After my disappointing finish at the LA Marathon, it would be an understatement to say, that I am ready for a good time at my next race. And by "good time" I mean an official time that starts with a "3"! I came close at the LB Marathon last year, with a 4:07 and with some very specific training, good weather and most likely a considerable amount of suffering, I hope to crack the 4 hour mark on Oct. 11th. I have had 2 half Marathon times of under 1:50, which by all accounts, indicates that a sub-4 Marathon should be relatively easy for me. But, alas, my coveted time has eluded me thus far. I stating my training tomorrow pretty well rested, for a change. I plan on doing everything in the program exactly as prescribed. I tend to slack a bit with the speed work and the hill repeats, but this time I am going to do it all.

I am also going to concentrate mainly on this Marathon as my "A" race and only do, perhaps, one 5K between now and then and try and schedule 1 half a month before. I AM FOCUSED! I am also going to do the strength training and plyometrics described in the plan. It feels good to have an uncluttered race calendar with a very specific goal that I am working for.

Paul

LA Marathon

It wasn't an easy decision, "should I run the LA Marathon this year?" I have wanted to run LA for the last few years but, so far, had not worked in my schedule due to other races. This year, it wasn't another race that stood in the way, but the fact that I may not be properly trained in time for the race. Since my hernia surgery in early February, I have struggled to get my mileage up to pre surgery levels. I think I underestimated the time that your body needs to recover from surgery and thought I could just continue on without missing a step... Wrong!

Looking back at the previous 3 months before each of my marathons and comparing the miles, I only did about half the miles that I did at last years Long Beach Marathon, where I ran a PR of 4:07. So, it is really no surprise that I ran a 4:29:32 in LA. It is still disappointing. It's a few seconds slower than my first Marathon, making it my slowest. Each of my previous 3 marathons had progressively gotten faster, so this was a bit of a bummer. If I were to do it over?? I'd do it in a heartbeat, cause it was a BLAST!!!

I'll spare you all the gory details of the pain in the last few miles and instead focus on what went right. The running community was a little concerned about this race, particularly the change in date and the chance for much warmer temperatures than it's usual March date. Lickily we were blessed with perfect conditions. The temperatures held in the mid 60's assisted by a nice marine layer! It was truly a gorgeous day. The spectators were INCREDIBLE! I can't remember any significant section of the course that wasn't lined with enthusiastic supporters. It really was amazing. The race itself was very well run and organized. Even the parking was effortless. I left WAY too early, expecting traffic and hassles and they simply did not exist. Kudos to the new owner of the LA Marathon for a very enjoyable race. I will be there for my revenge next year.

I also had the pleasure of meeting some of my new twitter pals at the race. It was really cool to meet them in person after chatting for the past couple of weeks. We are all still chatting and now a bunch of us are planning on doing the Long Beach Marathon in October. Very, very cool!!

I apologize for the lack of links and pictures in this post, but I am writing this on my iPhone as I am on the trainer (that nasty multitasking thing) and the app that I am using is a somewhat limited program.

Running while twittering

While there is a law in California against texting while driving, there is no such law against twittering while running. So, I am afraid that I will have to rely on my own better judgement and refrain from doing any of the following:

1. twittering "And... we're off!"

2. twittering my location at each mile marker.

3. checking to see if any of my twitter friends have twittered me.

I also promise to refrain from:

4. bragging at mile 15 "Wow, I feel great; at this pace, I should break 3:55!"

5. twittering at mile 18 "This is crazy, I think I'll speed up and go for 3:50."

6. at mile 20, twittering "Something doesn't feel right in my stomach."

Or:

7. at mile 22, describing what happened back at mile 21 1/2

8. twittering at mile 23, "I don't remember it hurting THIS bad."

9. getting mad at people twittering me saying, "You're almooossstttt there!"

And finally I promise not to:

10. Well, I promise not to twitter (during the race anyway :)

That's right, I have a twitter addiction. I really do. I have met so many cool people on twitter and it has made tomorrow's race that much more fun and exciting. The running community is a large part of why I love racing so much (there's just something about runners that make them really cool to be around). Twitter has made it easier to find people who are running the LA Marathon and get a chance to chat with them before the race. Not only am I thinking about how I will do tomorrow, now I have all these other people that I will be cheering on. Just click la marathon to see how you can search for any word and how easy it is to find people with similar interests. Pretty cool!

So, even though I won't be twittering DURING the race, I will be sending out tweets and meeting up with my new friends, which have been dubbed "Runnin' Fools" after the race.

Here is a short list of some of the runners I have been chatting with @anotorias, @Cassandrasruns, @runnrgrl @Runner03 @PunkRockRunner @slinkerbell @carmen57

@262RUNR and more. Not all of them are running the LA Marathon but they are all runners and really cool people.

The race starts at 7:20. The weather forcast is calling for a high of 69° with partly cloudy skies. Perfect! I am feeling pretty good about the race in general and although I don't feel that I will be beating my fastest time of 4:07:51 I am very excited to go out and have fun. Who knows, I may just surprise myself and go out more conservative the first half of the race, which could in turn facilitate an overall faster time. Wouldn't that be nice!

Now nutrition. In case you wonder what it takes to fuel me through 26.2 miles, I will have this strapped around my waist.

Yes, I do get funny looks and comments. 8 Gels. 1 every 3 miles. I stick to water at the aid stations and try to stay away from whatever "Brand X" sports drink happens to be at that particular race, since I usually don't know how my stomach will react. This plan has worked for me in my last 2 marathons so I'm stickin' with it.

Well, this is a short post, but I wanted to write something before the race.

See you on the next post.... or of course twitter.

Paul