Freescale Goals and Other Last-Minute Stuff

Here I am, less than 24 hours from toeing the line at Freescale. Hundreds of miles of training, hundreds of laps of the Austin High School track doing speedwork, hill repeats at Meriden and the dreaded Wilke, dozens of hours in the gym building strength for the entire body, dozens of Friday nights spent at home instead of partying, 6 previous Distance Challenge races over some pretty tough courses, and even 3 pairs of shoes...all to get to this point.

I've got my Marathon Shoes, the 14th pair of Mizuno Wave Creations (the Creation 7, lucky number), and they're ready to go with 50 miles on them. This is also my 14th marathon. Is this a numerological omen? Lucky running shorts? Check. Lucky socks, singlet, long-sleeved shirt, hat, gloves? Check. Enervitene and GU for the race? Check. Got the stuff from the Expo and race packet? Check. Pre-race hydration and nutrition on track? Check. Good night's sleep on Friday? Check. Weather report? Nice and cold, possible drizzle. Saturday super easy jog, strides and stretching with the Gazelles? Check. Nervous? Check. I'll have my traditional marathon eve dinner of pasta, red sauce, and grilled chicken, and then I'll try to get to sleep. Good luck on that.

Now, what is my race plan, and how am I going to execute it? Here's some numbers to check out, first:

• Existing "Masters PR" (2003 Motorola) - 4:21:18
• 2004 Motorola Marathon - 4:48:35 (three marathons in 5 months)
• 2005 Freescale Marathon - 4:28:13 (hot weather)
• Lifetime marathon PR (1993 Marine Corps) - 4:01:52
• Predicted marathon time (based on DC races) - 3:45:37

So, my race goals, in the usual multi-tiered format:

• "Masters PR" breaking 4:21:18. Yeah, it's seemingly ridiculous to put out a time this slow as a potential race goal, but a man's gotta have an emergency backup goal in case of climactic or other race disaster.
• Lifetime PR of 4:01:51 or 9:14/mile. Hopefully, this will also serve as only an emergency backup goal, but it would be a 27 minute improvement over last year's time.
• 3:59:59 (9:10/mile): I've tried to break 4:00:00 a bunch of times, and have made a variety of mistakes trying it, but this is the Golden Goal for tomorrow. Just to be able to say I'm a sub-4:00 marathoner would make a world of difference to me.
• Reach Goal: 3:45:00. All the numbers point to this as a reasonable goal for me, but it's scary to contemplate such a thing. If the weather will cooperate, then this should be possible. This is the pace band that I'll be wearing, by the way.
  

The race plan? I'm going to line up in the Distance Challenge corral, up front. I want to get out of the Freescale parking lot with as little hassle as possible and get to the wider roads. However, I'm going to go out for the first 4 miles or so fairly easily, letting myself settle in, clicking off miles in the 8:45-9:15 range. I suspect that, based on last year's experience, the 3:45 pace group, led by Jason Epstein, fellow Gazelle, could catch me somewhere between mile 4 and 6. If they do, I'll fall in with them at 3:45 pace. I've never run with a pace group before in a marathon, but given that I have drawn such strength from the group on our long runs and at the 20 Mile race in Round Rock, this seems to be worth a try. It also absolves me of any pacing responsibilities for a while. In a perfect world, I'll be feeling pretty solid with 3 or 4 miles to go, and might even be able to pick it up a little for a big finish. The last part of the puzzle will be to finish strong for the first time since that 2003 Motorola marathon.

I like to mentally break up the race into manageable pieces. I use the 10/10/10 formula. The first 10 miles are mainly about enjoying the ride, getting to MGP by mile 5 or so, and holding that until mile 10. Overall pace at that point should be around 8:40-8:45. The next 10 miles I'll hang out at MGP, maybe clipping a few seconds during the downhill miles. Then, the last 10K is where you see what you've really got. If I've done a good job to that point, then I should be able to at least maintain my pace late.

I'll get water/Powerade every 2 miles, which should be plenty. Don't need to stop at every water stop. GU at the early stops, every 4 miles, switching to Enervitene for the last half of the race. I'll have a water bottle with me early, to be discarded along the way.

So, that's it. I know what I need to do, I've done the training, I've got one of the best coaches around, and now all I have to do is to do it. I'll let you know how it goes, of course. Tomorrow, after the marathon, I'll hang out for a while in the DC special finisher's area, then it'll be time for an ice bath, followed by guitar practice (I hope I don't fall asleep!), then food and the Gazelles after-party. Hopefully, it will be a great day, a fun day, and I can smile when we're hanging out at Rich's house tomorrow.