Three days until the Twin Cities Marathon!
Eek! I’m excited but nervous as well. I am looking forward to the experience, but I want to do well, of course—I always do.
The biggest thing I’m worried about is my right hip that’s been bothering me for two weeks now. I have been very diligent about foam rolling, stretching, ice, and taking ibuprofen, but the pain is still there when I run. The pain is tolerable, but I’m worried it will be exasperated during the marathon.
Other than that, my training for this marathon went really well. I surpassed mileage goals I had only dreamed about and took my training to a whole new level running my first 80-mile week, then a 90-mile week the very next week. Of course I couldn’t stop there. I ended up running 100 miles in a week and finally topped out at 105 miles in 7 days.
It is crazy to now think 10 miles is no big deal and running twice a day is just what I do.
~~~~~~~
As with any race, I have some goals set for myself—I am just too competitive.
Gold-standard Goal
My top goal would be to run 3:15 this Sunday. That’s a pretty lofty goal with an average pace of 7:26. Seeing the average pace at my last marathon was 7:52, I’d really have to have a picture-perfect race.
Silver-standard Goal
I think a more reasonable goal would be to run 3:20-ish. A 3:20 finishing time would be an average pace of 7:37.
Bronze-standard Goal
My third and final goal is to run a PR, which would be anything faster than 3:26:34.
Of course, I don’t know what will happen. Maybe my hip will give me problems and then I’ll have to walk a lot, but I’m going to do my best to stay positive and have fun along the way.
~~~~~~~
Craig and I have been loving our time in Minnesota. We have been busy visiting family and friends, taking in all the fall colors and fall weather, and helping out my parents during their harvest.
Saturday night we went and saw Josh Turner in concert.
We have also made sure to visit our favorite stores that we don’t have in Alaska.
It has been so much fun here, and I’m going to be sad to leave, so I am going to soak it all up while I am here.
Good luck this weekend!!
Thank you!
Good luck, Michelle! I’ve enjoyed reading all about your training and can’t wait for your race recap! I am thinking about doing TCM next year (as my second marathon) so I’m also interested to learn what you think of race organization/logistics.
Thanks! I will let you know how it goes!!
It was announced last week that Anchorage is getting a Cabelas. And good luck this weekend!
Haha!! I did hear that. My husband is very excited about it.
I think you can definitely reach your goals! One of the most important things for marathon training is weekly mileage volume, and you’ve definitely put in the mileage. Kick some major butt, and I hope your hip holds out!
I’m sure hoping the high mileage pulls me through, and I’m able to PR. 🙂
I can’t BELIEVE I just found your blog. I am also a marathon runner, recently lived in Alaska for two years (Juneau) but just moved back to the east coast for school.
I had a buildup pretty similar to yours (all the sudden found myself cranking out 100-mile weeks while working full-time) before my most recent marathon back in January, and had the exact same goal of breaking 3:20/3:15. I’ve read back through your recent entries and am so impressed by your mileage and willingness to cram it in among those full-time weeks. Very excited to keep reading!!! Good luck this weekend!
Ahhh!! That is awesome!! How was your experience in Juneau? So were you able to run 3:15/3:20?
3:15- WHOA! I think you can do it. But man, that just sounds amazing to me!!
I will most definitely be meeting up with you in Boston in the spring (I won’t be running- but I’ll go cheer you on!!)
Good luck this weekend!