The final week of marathon training has finally arrived. Six short days until The Oregon Marathon on July 16th!
The biggest question from people this week, "ARE YOU READY?" Whenever asked that, I'm not really sure what to say. For a marathon, you put yourself through months of training and, if done correctly, your body is ready! Being ready and feeling ready are two different things! I've never "felt ready" to race a marathon. I could indeed run a marathon most any weekend, but racing it is different. The lies in our head, the weather, stomach issues, fueling...all of this plays a part. Most people who train could use some help in at least one area. So, to answer the question, "are you ready?" Yes I do believe I'm ready but I'm also very nervous I won't be able to handle my own thoughts out there on the course. There will be good times and bad times on Saturday during that 26.2 miles. There will be times I feel like I can do this and then it will get hard and I will have to push my mind and body to a different place to keep pace. This is the hard part. This is what make the marathon worth it. When you push your mind and body to do this and finish, you feel like you can do anything! It's worth the pain and it's worth the struggle.
 |
| Start of The OR Marathon in 2013 |
 |
| Heading down the switchbacks, The OR Marathon 2013 |
I do have a couple of goals. I like to make an A goal, a B goal and a C goal for most of my races. I usually only share my B goal. This time, I will share them all. My A goal is a 3:40 marathon. This has been my goal for the last three marathon and I haven't been able to do it. I need a 12:43 minute PR in order to do this. My B goal is to run a 3:42. This time would still qualify me for Boston with 3 minutes to spare. To actually get into Boston you need a cushion on your qualifying time because the faster times get in first. My C goal, this time, there isn't one. It's time to do this!
 |
| Getting close to the end, The Oregon Marathon 2013 |
Last time I ran this course it was the year of the Typhoonathon. September of 2013. I was trying to qualify for Boston for the first time and really struggled out on the course. I finished with a very wet, windy, disappointing 4:08:38. Not even a PR.
Last year I ran my fastest to date marathon at Newport Marathon (June '15) clocking in at 3:53:17. I really struggled at mile 17 and never regained my pace. I walked away knowing I will try again. It was disappointing.
I am excited about Saturday. I remember the course, what I liked about it, what I didn't like. Some changes have been made to the end and that makes it much better. I seriously want to "own" that course on Saturday!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Last Monday (4th of July) I ran a 5k with my 12 year old. It was a perfect 4th of July morning! Great job on your PR Rylan!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Last week's training and again for this week, it will be very low key. Going out for a little less milage, mostly all slow and easy. Just trying to keep what I have trained for and stay loose.
Looking forward to Saturday!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Final week of Marathon training.
Run with me July 11th to the 17th
Monday - Friday will all me afternoon easy runs.
 |
| Check out Uberthons upcoming races HERE, they are seriously great! |
 |
| My Soxy Feet athletic socks can be found HERE. Kids and adult sizes. |
 |
| SPANDITS athletic clothing can be found HERE. Find me on facebook at ZaoFit HERE. I would love to hear your story! Twitter HERE! Instagram HERE! Athletic IQ HERE! |
No comments:
Post a Comment