Race Day Ready

Today is two weeks until my race day, and I am ready to conquer the ultra distance. I have made it injury free. I have run the last half of the course at the time of the day I expect to be on the last half of the course. I love the course. I can see that it will be easy to get into my grove. The course is an out and back so I should not get lost during the race. I am talking about the Palm100 Individual 100K. I have a great coach, Scott D'Angelo from Doghouse Cycling, which has pushed me beyond what I could have done myself. This included a lot of miles, even a seven hour run, and the extra motivation to bring up my confidence. Did I say no injuries? I still can't believe this because prior to now I didn't think my body would handle over 40 miles in a week without getting injured. My rest weeks are still over 50, with some weeks over 90 miles.

I would like to go over my goals for the race, as this makes it easier to me push when the going gets tough. Since my blog really isn't published or read I am not reveling anything that will get me beat in the race. Yes, I would like to take first. The reality of this is slim, but for now it is a dream. Beyond my dream are my realities, which will also be a dream.

Finish Time Goal: 9:57:47, which is a pace of 9:37/mi for just over 62 miles (100K).

If you asked me what my goal was a month ago I said sub 12:00:00. I would still be happy with this, but my training has caused me to adjust my race goal. Basically it comes down to sub 12:00 I will be satisfied. Sub 11:00 I will be happy. Sub 10:00 I will be ecstatic.

My last long run before race, which was on Saturday, was perfect and is the culprit for the 10 hour dream. I put the race mentality on. I ran the pace I was going to run, ate the food, and watched the timing with lights and bridges. I ran 32.24 miles in 5:00:47, which puts me at a pace of 9:19/mi. I started my training run with a run/walk at a pace of 9:45/mi for the running sections. After an hour I changed the run/walk to a 9:20/mi pace and kept that for an hour and half. I then kept the run/walk at 8:45/mi up until the last hour. I was able to keep a pace of 8:45/mi for the last hour straight.

I got stuck at one light for an extended time. I will have to speed up in one section to avoid missing this light. I missed it by 45 seconds, which I can add to my speed walking area. I also got stuck at the Hillsboro Inlet bridge. I was two minutes off from hitting the bridge. I am thinking about adding a walk in one section before the bridge so I don't stop at the bridge and instead get an extra walk. I want to avoid stopping that far into the race as it may be hard to start back up again.

It isn't the run itself that caused this crazy sub 10 dream, as I know running for 5 hour is nothing like running for 10 hour. Instead it is how I felt after the run and Sunday. I finished running 32.24 miles feeling fresh. I am talking the kind of fresh that you generally feel when running 10 miles during a marathon training program. I really could be half way and keep going. The next day, nothing. I did all the yard work that has been lacking during the 12 weeks of training all in one day, and spent some well needed time with my two girls. I ended the day with a new WII and Guitar Hero to help keep me busy during my taper period. I have issues with the taper period. The stronger I start feeling the more I want to do. I can only imagine a taper where I felt strong before going into the taper. This will be new for me.