INTRICATE RACE PLAN

I ran my last “hard” workout before Boston last night. 6 miles with 3 x 3/4 mile at 6:30 pace with a minute rest between repeats.

I guess I should be outlining some intricate race plan to reach my goals, but I don’t really have one – at least nothing “intricate”. I figure I’m in good enough shape to at least give myself a chance to break 3 hours. For example, going out at 7:00 pace and coming through the half in 1:32 is probably not a good idea because I’m not sure I could run 1:28 over the second half of that course. I’m more likely to go out at 7:00 effort. Given the early down hills, that should get me through the half between 1:30-1:31. Once in the hills around mile 16, my plan is to pass as many people as possible.

It’s as simple as that. Then again, it always looks simple on paper.

I’ve been avoiding looking at the weather so far. Yet people feel inclined to give me weather reports. I figure I’ll look tomorrow night so I know what to pack.

Since this is another boring post, I’ll just direct you to a New York Times article that Eric sent me this morning. After reading it, I told Eric;

I give the NYT credit for covering these topics, but some statements aren't really accurate;

"Hall, who can run almost a four-minute mile."

I guess my definition of "almost" is different than their’s since she probably "only" runs 4:30ish.

"On Saturday, she takes a 14-mile run at a pace (5 minutes 45 seconds per mile) that is between what she runs in races and her easy days."

Saying a pace is between what she races and her easy days isn't very informative as it could be anywhere from 4:30 to 7:00 pace. And 5:45 pace for 14 miles is like a 1:15 half marathon - probably very close to her race pace.

"...should she decide to run that distance at the 2008 United States Olympic Trials or at future Olympics."

I didn't realize she gets to decide what to run "at future Olympics" I thought she had to qualify.

Quote of the day;

“We took off and it wasn’t too bad for a half-mile, and then we started going up this hill. God, the only thing that kept me alive was the hope that I would die.” – Bill Bowerman after being introduced to hill training by Arthur Lydiard