One Week To Go

Well, the time is quickly approaching.  I've been training hard for the last 4 months and it all comes to a close in a week.  Sure I have other races; and truth be told, I'm very much looking forward to those events.  But this is the biggy, the big kahuna, the mother of all running races (for me...I'm not an ultra runner...yet), the marathon.  I've put in over 400 miles, not including bike miles, since December and I think I'm ready.  I'm now into my last week of my taper with much less mileage but pretty intensive workouts.  I have one more sort of long run (relative) Sunday but that's only 8 miles with 6 of those at 10k pace.  Then, next week is the serious taper with very little mileage...until Sunday of course.

I've also changed my workouts this last week and at least through the summer.  How?  Well, I hired a coach.  I know...sounds ridiculous, crazy, insane.  Why would a 37 year old non-competitive, for-fun athlete hire a coach?  Well, I feel like I want to improve beyond what I believe I can do "coaching" myself.  I ran track in junior high and one year in high school, but I never really had a "great" coach.  They were decent, and I certainly commend their dedication to the athletes, but everything always seemed to be geared more towards the sprinters.  The distance geeks essentially just ran for miles...very few speed workouts or variety.  Now, I'm not saying that with the right coach I would've been a track star back then, but I may have been more competitive.  Anyway, reading books on training now, I realize that I really have no clue what I'm doing out there if I'm training myself.  I know having an expert to guide me along the way will help me to improve and enjoy my successes.  So, I hired Coach Jeff Kline from PRS Fit out of Loveland...ironically the town where I grew up.

I've seen many of Coach Jeff's successes through his other athletes on Twitter and dailymile and he's been very successful.  I contacted him too late to do much for the marathon, though he is helping me with my taper.  I know he will be a great benefit when it comes to the two triathlons, Bolder Boulder and Warrior Dash later this year though...especially the tris.

Anyway, back to the marathon.  I have a plan for the run and I feel confident I can get it done this year.  My goal since I signed up has been to break 4 hours.  The hard part is the last 6 miles.  It's relatively easy to make it the first 16 to 20 miles at that goal pace...especially downhill.  But that last 6 to 10 can be brutal.  Very brutal.  So, a 4 hour marathon is a pace of 9:09 per mile.  I think I'll plan on shaving about 10 minutes off of that and shoot for consistent 8:45 minute miles.  I know I will miss that pace on mile 19.  There is a decent hill that ends at the 19th mile and after 18 miles of downhill...the quads are burning and that hill feels like climbing Everest.  Luckily, after cresting that hill, it's back down to the river and into town.  So that's my goal.  I'm going to drink plenty of fluids, down plenty of gels and pinole and push like I've never pushed before.  In the end, if I finish, I will be a very happy camper.  If I finish under 4 hours, I will be a very ecstatic camper.

In the meantime, the plan for the next week will be to maintain fitness with some short, intensity workouts.  Nothing too drastic in the plans...just burn off the lactic acid and rest up the feet, knees and hips.  I also need to be VERY conscious of my diet this week.  I've been pretty good the last few months and Teresa has been coming up with some very healthy recipes.  The problem is that my calorie burn this last week will be significantly less than the previous 16 weeks.  The last thing I want to do is go into the marathon after gaining some weight back.  Portion control will be key.  Other than that, I plan to increase the carbs a little and stay very hydrated.  Finally...SLEEP!  I'm hoping to get a ton of great REM this week, especially Thursday and Friday night.  It's not even worth hoping for a good nights sleep on Saturday.  And, before I know it...I'll be crossing that finish line and hanging another medal around my neck.

My next post will likely be a post marathon report and I hope to bring lots of good news.  Thanks for reading.

- Brian