Alright, T-minus three weeks and counting until marathon time and my tapering has officially begun. I wish I could say that I felt more prepared than I do. Compared to my other two marathons, I can't say I'm 100% there yet - mentally or physically. It doesn't help that my long run of almost 21 miles last Saturday was not my strongest. I've also been struggling to maintain the pace that I hoped would blow my previous marathon times (4:18:59 and 4:10:10 in KC and StL, respectively) out of the water.
I'm almost to the point where I can smile as I reflect on my original, secret aspirations of potentially qualifying for Boston with a 3:30:00 time. Now I know that there's no way that will happen...this year, anyway. It's unfortunate that I haven't been able to translate my half-marathon pace from last year to this year's training. I know it's mostly due to not following my training plan as diligently as I should, coupled with the fact that I need to incorporate cross-training cardio (i.e. biking) into the mix to make sure my shin splints don't return. The end result is fewer miles on my Newton's to prepare me physically for the race. *Sigh. I'll forgive myself...eventually.
The good news is that I should still be able to achieve my goal of setting a Personal Record. I just won't be able to blow it out of the water as much as I'd hoped. My new goal is to do a sub 4:00:00 time, which I know I'm fully capable of doing. Even though my training to date hasn't materialized in the pace I'd like to end up with (particularly outdoors), these last few weeks will hopefully steer me back on course. How can I be sure? I'm going to make a conscious attitude shift. Instead of thinking, "stupid hills...always slow me down", I'm going to think, "Awesome - a hill! I wonder what's on the other side." I'm going to focus on getting in miles even when the Cardinals are in the play-offs and I have tickets to games, even if it means waking up earlier than usual. I'm going to do intervals and focus on pushing myself to speeds I didn't think I had in me. And if all else fails I'm going to count on adrenaline and my competitive nature increasing my MPH on race day. (That's in combination with my flashy neon yellow Newtons and Cliff blocks, off course.)
I know I'll get there, but it will take mental and physical discipline in the home stretch. First step - go to bed so that I can wake up and run through some miles. (It's already past 11:30 - yikes!)
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