Marathon Dress Rehearsal
by Robert James Reese » Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 » 4 Comments
Today was my last real workout before the big event. I found the idea of a "dress rehearsal" in a taper guide I've been following and really liked the idea. It was a chance to check and make sure that everything was as it should be. For the most part, it is.
I jogged down to Central Park, did 5 miles as close to marathon pace as I could, then jogged back home. I was fairly happy with the consistency of the splits: 6:46, 6:39, 6:43, 6:40, 6:38. Obviously, there's a little improvement that could happen there, but none were off more than 7 seconds. I'll definitely have to keep a close eye on this during the race though – The first mile was okay, but after I got warmed up, it became really difficult to keep from speeding up too much. The further I went, the tougher it got. But, on Sunday, I have to keep my head in charge of the pace and not let my legs go out too fast. I think it was really good practice to focus on this today.
I wore my new shoes and had no problems there. They only have 25 miles on them, so I was a little worried that they might be too new. But, they're the same model as the old pairs and I feel like the extra bounce they have might help.
There were some issues with my form that I couldn't get worked out. This is probably my biggest concern coming out of today. I felt myself leading with my right leg and just couldn't overcome that. Also, I was running really tense and started to knot up bad in my right shoulder. I need to figure out how to relax out on the course.
My knee gave me some serious feedback too. It's still hurting now, but I think I'll be able to make it through the race with no serious issues. I might take a bit of a break afterwards though to try to get that healed up finally before starting in on 2010.
I took a gel on the jog over and had no stomach issues. I'll do those at mile 10 and 20 like in Chicago. That seemed just about perfect. I'll probably try to get Gatorade ever 3 miles or so too.
The most important thing coming out of today is confidence. The pace seems more possible now than it did when I first woke up this morning. I was definitely exerting myself out there today, but I started working into a rhythm towards the end that I think (hope) could have carried me the full 26.2. Of course, there's so many variables and anything can happen on Sunday, but I feel like I at least have a decent shot.
I jogged down to Central Park, did 5 miles as close to marathon pace as I could, then jogged back home. I was fairly happy with the consistency of the splits: 6:46, 6:39, 6:43, 6:40, 6:38. Obviously, there's a little improvement that could happen there, but none were off more than 7 seconds. I'll definitely have to keep a close eye on this during the race though – The first mile was okay, but after I got warmed up, it became really difficult to keep from speeding up too much. The further I went, the tougher it got. But, on Sunday, I have to keep my head in charge of the pace and not let my legs go out too fast. I think it was really good practice to focus on this today.
I wore my new shoes and had no problems there. They only have 25 miles on them, so I was a little worried that they might be too new. But, they're the same model as the old pairs and I feel like the extra bounce they have might help.
There were some issues with my form that I couldn't get worked out. This is probably my biggest concern coming out of today. I felt myself leading with my right leg and just couldn't overcome that. Also, I was running really tense and started to knot up bad in my right shoulder. I need to figure out how to relax out on the course.
My knee gave me some serious feedback too. It's still hurting now, but I think I'll be able to make it through the race with no serious issues. I might take a bit of a break afterwards though to try to get that healed up finally before starting in on 2010.
I took a gel on the jog over and had no stomach issues. I'll do those at mile 10 and 20 like in Chicago. That seemed just about perfect. I'll probably try to get Gatorade ever 3 miles or so too.
The most important thing coming out of today is confidence. The pace seems more possible now than it did when I first woke up this morning. I was definitely exerting myself out there today, but I started working into a rhythm towards the end that I think (hope) could have carried me the full 26.2. Of course, there's so many variables and anything can happen on Sunday, but I feel like I at least have a decent shot.
4 Comments
keep the knee strong.
keep your head in charge.
love the new blog, you crazy fuck. BADWATER? my goodness. may I crew?
xo.
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