So I bought Children of the Corn with the hopes of a frightful Halloween, but instead I am splayed out on the couch, watching House. Megan’s apparently hooked on it – I’ve never watched it – which means that my movie will have to wait. Maybe it’ll be scarier after midnight.
The last two days have been spent at the gym, on the treadmill, staring blankly at television screens and crappy newspapers. I’ve gotten used to the treadmill these days, just like I have adapted to healthier foods and early evenings. You might think it sounds like a boring lifestyle, but at least I don’t wake up hungover on weekdays anymore. Sore, yes, but definitely not hungover. Good for me.
Anyway, there’s not much to talk about in terms of my workouts. I ran four miles on Monday (two at seven minutes a mile), and five kilometers easy today. My taper seems to be working, but I still haven’t got a clue how fast I should try to run the marathon. From what I can tell, I should set three goals: my ultimate goal, my reasonable goal, and a minimum goal. Gives me less chance for disappointment, I guess.
Lets try this exercise right now, shall we? I would be absolutely ecstatic with something in the 3:10-3:15 range, but all the planets would have to align for that to happen, so I should probably toss those thoughts out right now. A sub 3:30 would probably more reasonable, and wouldn’t kill me to attempt. However, I would be happy with anything under 3:45 because that would better the pace of my 37K run. It would also allow me a 30-35 minute grace period if I attempt a 3:10 and bonk in the last 10K.
Yes, I know attempting a 3:10 is pretty stupid with such little training, but I also know that if the weather is ideal and my legs are feeling good that I just might attempt it. God knows that running this marathon with six weeks training is stupid enough, so upping the ante at this point isn’t that much of a stretch. I won’t know how I feel until race day, so I’ll try not to think about it again until the gun goes off.
If anyone wants to talk me out of starting too fast, be my guest. A little common sense might save me a great deal of pain come Sunday.
