Countdown to Marathon: 6 Days

This coming Sunday I’m running a dinky little marathon in Goodyear, Arizona. It’s the IMS Marathon, and this is only the second year of the race (last year they scheduled it the same day as the Phoenix Rock ‘n Roll, so turnout was ridiculously low). I can think of no better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than to drag my stubby legs 26.2 miles through the arid southwestern heat.

The marathon will be my second ever — I ran the Vancouver Marathon a few years ago with a scant amount of training and no knowledge of proper race day nutrition/hydration. I finished in about 4:35, averaging a 10:30 pace. This time around I expect to PR by quite a bit, but exactly how much I’m unsure. My cake dream is to do under four hours, but I’m not quite sure I’m there yet. I’m hoping for a range of sub-4 to about 4:15. I guess it all depends on how the body feels and how prepared I am come race day. (Jason’s running the half marathon, by the way — he tried unsuccessfully to convince Teresa that he should do the full with me, but she shot him down since this would have been his second marathon in less than three months, and she’s already begun ramping up his Ironman training).

I haven’t hit all my workouts but have managed to get most of my long runs in. I’ve done most of my training runs in Capitol Hill, so I think the hilly terrain has proved beneficial. I’ve also been doing heart rate zone training and have dropped two minutes off my mile pace when in zone 3. The one thing I’m worried about is how to pace myself for race day — I’ve gotten used to slowing things down for zone training, but I’ll have to speed up a bit to try and hit my goal time, so pacing is going to be a bit tricky. I’ll have to consult the coach this week for her opinion.

I think I’ve got a sub-4 in me for sure, but I might have to train a bit harder to hit it. Work’s been a bit stressful lately, plus I’m trying to squeeze in the beginnings of triathlon training, but if I were to just train for a marathon I think I’d do alright. In any case, we’ll see how the race goes on Sunday. I’m in taper mode this week but have a few workouts here and there, plus a (gulp) body composition test + diet analysis on Wednesday (it’s part of Operation De-Chub for Canada). I don’t think the Super Bowl gorging and beer guzzling will make my trainer too happy, but hopefully burning thousands of calories this weekend will counteract my bad habits. 😀