Last Long Run of 20+ Miles

I ran on Saturday Night/ Sunday morning. And ran and ran and ran. This was to be the 22-23 mile run which ended up being 22.81. It took me 4 hours and 10 minutes. My Marathons have thus far been 4:20s. Now without getting all wrapped around the axle, I was hoping that my time would have been better than marathon pace.

I guess the combination layoff, broken shoulder, not done a marathon since February has caught up with me. Not to be outdone, I am going to try to do better than the 4:20. In fact here it is, I am printing the pace band, Official projection, Goal, etc etc….

Finish between 4:00 and 4:15

This give me a lot of room upside while it is still a stretch goal.

I will run my last two long runs at the pace I hope to have at SteamTown.

OK looking at the 4:00, I am panicked, it seems too fast and a recipe for disaster. SO here is the plan, Run the first half at the 4:15 pace and try to improve with a negative split. Any improvement will be from the half to the barn or just stay with the 4:15….

OK that’s enough of that.

I got new shoes the other day and ran 2 miles in them today, they felt fantastic. I know you should never ever take new shoes to a Marathon. But what constitutes new? My 22 miler the other night was run on the yellow pair, they felt a little flat in the toe box if truth be known.

Plan, I am going to run the last two longish runs on the new ones and if they work ok, then I will use them.

The mileage left is about 60 miles. They could be broken in by then… we’ll see. I am not making a plan now, except to keep the yello pair, which are already broken in set to go. Not using them unless the new pair cant go. SO oranges are the backup pair with the new ones as the lead. LOL all this to choose my shoes, sheesh, I sound so “Amelda Marcos.”

The nutrition will be gels every 3 miles starting at mile six so
6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24. I don’t want to carry that many so I need to find out from the race director if they will be on the course.

More to come.
It feels great to feel excited about this race.
Curtai Out.