Sunday, November 02, 2008

Welcome to Taper Town

Well, as of today I am an official resident of Taper Town. Let the manic obsession and self doubt begin.

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As soon as I woke up this morning and entered my last 20 mile run into my logbook, I started to wonder if I was really ready for this marathon.

"I only ran 30.5 miles this week?"

"I haven't been cross training or lifting at ALL for the past two weeks!"

"What if we get a freak heat wave on race day?"

"I think I need new shoes."

"How should I carry my Gu if I'm not going to wear my fuel belt?"

"I shouldn't have eaten those chocolate chip cookies last night."

"Or the pizza."

"Or the beer."

"I know I felt pretty good on this last 20 miler, but I still have SIX miles to go for the marathon and honestly I was pretty tired at the end."

"Sure I have run half of this course about 30 times, but maybe I should drive it tomorrow just to see what it's like."

"I'm no runner, who the hell am I trying to kid?!?!"

"Maybe I should just change my goal to a 5 hour finish...


I swear to you, I had all of these thoughts run through my head in the span of 10 seconds.

But then I remembered that all these thoughts were perfectly normal and I was just going to have to find a way to drown them out over the next three weeks. Yes, I may not log as many miles as other runners; yes I like to drink beer and eat pizza; yes, it may rain or suddenly get up to...GASP...70 degrees, but I can handle it. I am not running for anyone else, I am running for me. And so far, I have been doing pretty well.

So as I said, my last 20 miler was great. Once again, the weather was cool and it was another beautiful day to run. I only got about 5 hours of sleep the night before so I was a little tired for the first 5 miles, but after than I was warmed up and ready to roll. We started out slower (9:50-10:00mm pace) for the first 5 miles, then picked it up for an overall pace of 9:42. (19.81 miles - 3:12:30/9:42 pace). We took about 8 minutes off our last 20 mile time and felt good at the end...not great, but I think I can handle that pace for 26.2. I'll be tired, but I don't think it's impossible, if all the other factors go my way.

So with this last long run under our belts I think my plans A, B & C for the Philadelphia Marathon are as follows:

Plan A: Beat my last (only) marathon time from last year's Columbus Marathon for a new PR - 4:36

Plan B: A sub 4:20. With that time I will have beaten Oprah, which makes me happy (4:29). I would like to beat Sarah Palin's time (3:59) but I'm not quite there yet. I'll leave it up to Obama and Biden to beat her this time around. (Oh snap!)

Plan C: A sub 4:15 - Jeremy says we can totally do this.

I would LOVE to run a sub 4:15, but I know the marathon Gods all have to be rooting for us for this to happen, so I will be happy with a sub 4:20. And if I beat my last marathon time, I will be satisfied, if not excited.

Other than that, it's been a good week. The Phillies won the World Series!!! I was going to go to the parade, but 2 million people decided to take the train into Center City the same time we did, so we decided to go buy winter coats instead. I know that's totally lame, but we REALLY needed coats. It's cold here. Even Zero thinks so.

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I also got a great 5.5 miler in after work on Thursday - OUTSIDE! It was dark at the end, but I ran a new route that kept me close to humanity so I would not be too scared. It felt great and I think 9mm is my new favorite pace for shorter runs. I just felt happy the whole time. Love those runs!

Also, watched the NYC Marathon this morning. How awesome is Paula Radcliffe?

Monday, 10/27 - off
Tuesday, 10/28 - 5.2 miles/dreadmill
Wednesday, 10/29 - off
Thursday, 10/30 - 5.5 miles/ 50:20 - 9:04 pace
Friday, 10/31 - off
Saturday, 11/01 - 19.82/3:12:30 - 9:42 pace.
Sunday, 11/02 - off

Total Weekly Mileage: 30.52 (RUN)
Total Weekly Mileage: 0 (BIKE)

17 comments:

N.D. said...

Great job on the 20. Your goals are all attainable and you are going to do great! Things that I thought of - Gu, I wore a t shirt then a tight tank top with a bra built in for a couple of races and put the GU in the tank top bra part. So it wasn't touching my skin and all - otherwise chafage! Other idea - one of those belts that hold your number and they have slots for gu (at expos). That's what I've been using. And if you can do 20, you're fine the last 6 - you've been training like a champ ! Great job on the 5.5 at the happy pace! I wouldn't even be worrying about what I'm eating until the week before!

teacherwoman said...

Looks like a good solid week of running. You are so ready for this marathon! :)

joyRuN said...

Congrats on the 20 miles! Dunno what to tell you about the taper madness - haven't quite gotten there yet :)

Girl, 4:15 would be AWESOME!

Unknown said...

I think those things on a daily basis! Ha ha. Enjoy your tapering and think positive - plan C is probably more attainable that you think!

Sarah Palin can run that fast???

Unknown said...

LOVE Zero's picture. Good luck with staying sane for three weeks. It's always a challenge.

Aron said...

AWESOME job on the 20 miler!! AHH i am already getting nervous for my taper in 2 weeks :) you are going to do awesome! you have some great goals too!

Progman2000 said...

Nice 20 miler. You are totally going to smoke Oprah. Taper madness sucks (I would try to lay off the cookies, pizza and beer though, plenty of that waiting for you at the finish!)

Jess said...

Nice job on the 20! And I think goal "c" is totally do-able. Cute pic of Zero!

Marcy said...

Oooooo chica you're gonna kill this thing! I KNOW IT!! ;D ;D

Beat Diddy Beat Diddy! (4:14) I can't believe I missed the mark on him by only 2 minutes. Shiz if I had been payin more attention I would've kicked it in gear some more. GAH! You know you want to kick his butt LOL Doesn't everyone? HAHA

Sonia said...

You are sooooooooooooooo on your way to a sub 4:15 marathon Chicka! Those fast time you've been posting got me totally jealous but I know you've been working hard, even tough you might be doubting yourself right now.

Poor zero, it's a shock for him too LOL He might need some booties to survive winter!

I GOT A PHONE INTERVIEW THIS MORNING!!! FOR A POST-DOC IN THE GOVERNMENT! THE WOMAN SAID SHE WILL CALL ME BACK NEXT WEEK! =)

Neese said...

Paula is da bomb :)

P.O.M. said...

Thank Sweet Baby Jebus I beat Palin. Girl... you can TOTALLY kick her ass this time!

Unknown said...

Best wishes for you as you go after your marathon goal times. Have a blast!

Anonymous said...

You and Jeremy have been running so strong and you guys keep improving with every run! Race day is crazy, but you can totally hit any one of you plans, I have no doubt.

You guys are ready for this. I'm getting so excited for you guys. Enjoy the taper.

SuperDave said...

Yes, you are ready!
You will beat A!
Oprah ran a 4:29! Oh great, now I know just how slow I really am!
I talked to the marathon gods last night and they said that a sub 4:15is good to go; as long as you drink a beer in honor to them after the race.

Shoe Running said...

I really think that you can totally beat Oprah, and then some! You are ready & trained and all those negative thoughts are normal, but not true. Keep up the good work!

Dori said...

Love that poster! I hope you have a good answer to all those questions, because they're going to crop up again on the course. Trust you training--you'll be great!

 
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