Monday, October 15, 2012

Marathon Madness Monday: Week 17

It's marathon week!  I really can not believe that!  All of these weeks of training have absolutely flown by, more so than any other training cycle.  I feel good about how I feel going into race week and my goal this week is to hydrate, rest my legs, and eat as healthy as I can!  That will be a challenge since I once again travel for work Tuesday-Friday of this week, but I will make it work!

Now it's time to think about goals...  I have gone back and forth about what my goals should be.  Had I not been wiped out by bronchitis for a good 2 weeks, I would probably feel differently.  I am not giving up on having a great marathon, of course, I just am adjusting my expectations and trying to not be too hard on myself if I don't make my goal.  I always take an A, B, and C goal approach to racing, so here they are:

A Goal:  Finish with a smile on my face.  I think this should be a goal for any person training for a marathon as you never know what can happen on race day! 

B Goal:  PR.  To PR, I need to run faster than 4:22:10, which means I have to run faster than 10 minute miles.  I KNOW I can do this based on how my 20 and 22 mile training runs went (barring any weird thing happening with the weather or my body).

C Goal:  Run a sub-4 hour marathon, so 3:59:59 would be just fine with me.  That means I need to run a 9:09 pace.  This is definitely going to be a challenging goal, and I am not going into the race completely expecting to accomplish this.  I am just going to see how I feel on race day and will listen to my body.

The thing is, I know there will be other marathons, so no matter what happens on Sunday, there will be other races.  I just want to have fun and run with a smile on my face. 

If you want to track how I am doing on race day, you can sign up for text message alerts here.  You do need to know my last name, so if you don't know if, you can email me (I think most of you know it, though). 

Here is how my training broke out last week:

Monday:  7 miles at 9:23 pace
Tuesday:  Rest
Wednesday:  I did an awesome strides work out (30 seconds at 5k pace, 30 seconds of recovery) along a river in Philadelphia.  It's definitely a great city to run in.  I did just over 5.6 miles at 9:12 pace overall.
Thursday:  Biked 10 miles in the morning before work
Friday:  Rest
Saturday:  10.4 miles at 9:27 pace
Sunday:  Rest

Week 17:  23 miles
Training-to-date:  499.25 (so close to 500!!)

Thanks for all the support and encouragement you have all provided along the way!  Hopefully I'll have good results to share with you next week!

19 comments:

Kelly (She Wears a Red Sox Cap) said...

Wahoo! I can't believe it's almost marathon day! I just signed up to get alerts at all available timing spots! Yay :)

Genki said...

I've loved reading all your posts about training for this marathon, I did a half marathon this year and loved it, but no way could I do a full one! It's amazing and inspiring, good luck and you can only do your best on the day, you've worked so hard!

Caroline said...

Signed up for alerts!

Love your goals - ABC goals are my favorite. Good luck resting up this week!

abbi said...

You are ready for this marathon and you have great goals for it and definitely believe you can go for the 'A' goal! Best of luck!

Nilsa @ SoMi Speaks said...

I think it's so impressive that you've been able to continue to stick to your training schedule, despite all your travels. That takes true dedication!

Amy said...

I'm so excited for you! You're so inspiring, dedicated and disciplined! I can't wait to hear about your race!

Amber @ A Little Pink in the Cornfields said...

I love your ABC goals, that's perfect! My main goal is to finish happy as well.

Just signed up for the updates! I cannot wait to finish my race and then hopefully be a spectator for you!

missris said...

I think those goals are just perfect. I'm so excited for you for this weekend!!

J said...

Good luck this weekend! I know you are going to do great! Go out there and get that PR girl! You can do it!

Marlys said...

Good luck with your goals! I am signing up for the alerts as soon as I log out of here! I pray your trip goes smoothly and that you return not too exhausted and ready to run! I hope you reach all of your goals!

Carolina John said...

Nice! You're ready to race now. Go get that sub-4.

Stephany said...

I'm signed up for text alerts - yay!

I think you have done great this training cycle with all the business traveling and being sick and you are going to run a great race! I think all your goals are great and attainable, but as long as you accomplish Goal A - you're golden!

Can't wait to follow along this weekend!

Marisa A. said...

Yay you're going to do awesome and PR I know it! And probably have an awesome marathon recap posted in a much more timely fashion than myself :) I can't wait to hear all about it!!!

AlliRL said...

So excited for you! You have such a good attitude towards the marathon and I LOVE that one of your goals is to finish with a smile!

Raquelita said...

I can't believe that it's already race week for you. It feels like just yesterday we were eating Thai food and talking about the early stages of your training. I'm really excited for you and can't wait to hear all about how it goes!

The Many Thoughts of a Reader said...

you can doooo it!

Amber said...

I KNOW you can PR this race and I think if everything aligns on race day weather-wise and how you feel you have a sub 4-hour marathon in you too! So excited for you!

Kyria @ Travel Spot said...

Those are all doable goals! What's your game plan? Will you start out at a 9 minute pace and then see how you feel or do you have another strategy?

I signed up for the updates! It's cool that you can do that. I did that for NWM but it didn't work. I am glad nobody was counting on it to be able to meet up with me! I can't wait to see how you do!

Lauren @ Sassy Molassy said...

Happy marathon week, lady. Hope you're staying stress free even though you're traveling (I think). You will PR! But most of all, just enjoy the race.