Running with Jack

I spent some time tweaking my 50K training plan which will kick off at the end of March. I decided to drop the 9.5K Hundseck Mountain Run which was scheduled 5 days before the 50K event. Trail Runner Johnny confirmed what my intuition has been telling me - that even though this is a shorter race (9.5K), the 805 meters (2641 feet) of elevation gain could significantly drain my energy for the big race. As my training time is already somewhat limited I decided it is better to whimp out and save my strength for the 50K.

So 12 Days, 22 Hours, 53 Minutes and 44 Seconds until my marathon starts. This was the greeting that I received when I checked the webpage for the Bienwald Marathon this morning. I make it a practice to check the webpage a couple times before race day to make sure nothing has changed.

My marathon strategy is still holding rock steady. My strategy may bore you, but the plan is to run a consistent 6:00/K (9:39/M) pace for 40K, then beat feet to the finish line with whatever I have left. Or in other words, four 1-hour 10K runs and a 2.2K sprint!

For comparision: I ran the first half of my last marathon in 1:53:57 and the second half in 2:40:17. My goal is to narrow the gap, hopefully in a positive direction.