watch my race, sorta

t-minus 11 days....

ok whew, thanks for the advice and listening to my stress-out. back to the regularly scheduled program!

i worked on my goal time for a little bit today. its pretty difficult to have a realistic plan in mind because of my melt-down last year combined with the unknown weather factor.

however, ignoring the past (the past is in the past?) and moving on, it seems like i might be able to do 10:00 miles. that would put me around 4:22. 9:50 miles would put me around 4:18. 10:30 miles would put me around = 4:36.

what i'm trying to say is that, if the stars are aligned = 4:22 or better. if i melt down (but not as badly as last year) = 4:40ish. last year's time = 4:57. half marathon race a few weeks ago = 1:59 (9:05).

i think that seems like a realistic range for me. none of the goal times really consider the hills at the end which is probably dumb but whatever.

now when i originally signed up for this marathon #2, the goal was just to take it easy, take in the scenery, and just try not to implode like last year. my knee hurt so much that i was considering the 10-miler instead of the marathon. here i go setting specific time goals again, whats wrong with me! heh.

i'm still trying to figure out when to take gu. oddly enough, based on my training runs i should take the gu at miles 8 and 16, but the TCM only has water stops at the odd miles (eg 7, 17). either i move the gu stops to 7, 15, 23 or 9.2, 17, 23. hmm.

some of the things i hope to supply my fan club with include:
chapstick
kleenex
dry street clothes for the end
bandaids
water
gatorade
bodyglide
fresh pair of socks

i will bring some sandals and extra socks for the sweats bag. will also bring some water w/me. in the morning, i will eat a banana before i leave for the race, and then take a gu 15 minutes before the race (just like practice).

that might be all the planning i do until i get back from my travels. i will finalize my plans this weekend and gather up the supplies.

i may or may not have mentioned this before, but this year the TCM is tracking athletes online ala the boston marathon. you will be able to see my splits at 5k, 10k, half-marathon, and 30k, or something like that.

so if you are bored on the morning of october 1st, you can do some virtual cheering! i will give you my bib #, but you'll have to email me for that. pretty cool eh??!!! woohoo!!!!!!!

tonight i fell asleep watching football--i practically missed the whole game. guess i needed it huh? now i'm gonna go back to bed. later dudes!