Countdown . . . One

2.31 miles, 20:02, 8:41 pace, Max HR = 145, Avg HR = 135

Today's 20 minute run was the last time I'll run before Dallas. I ran to Julie's work to get something from her, and I took the train back home. All in all it was uneventful.

I did some errands geared toward the race . . . bought shot bloks, picked up a rain poncho (more on that later), got some peanut butter and bagels for breakfast on race day, got a haircut, booked a hotel room in Dallas, printed out the course map, checked the starting time and signed up for a 3:10 pace group. While I was on the White Rock website I noticed that it sold out!

So about the poncho, or more specifically the weather forecast for Dallas on Sunday morning at 8:00 AM. I've been eyeing http://www.weather.com all week long, hoping for some divine intervention. You know what they say . . . if you don't like the weather in Texas, then wait five minutes. And sometimes the weather forecast did shift dramatically over a five minute period. But what I know, as of this very minute, is that the temperature is projected to be 67 degrees at 8AM and rise to 70 degrees by 11AM. There is a 90% chance of thunderstorms, 90% humidity (isn't rain 100%?), and 14-15 MPH sustained winds. This is far from ideal.

While the weather report is a bit discouraging, I'm glad it's not the 70-80 degrees forecasted earlier this week. As you may recall, I've been preparing myself for the wind and rain. I'm not worried about precipitation, and I'm hoping the wind won't cut me down. I just wish it was about ten degrees cooler.

Some random thoughts:

If you want SMS or email messages tracking my marathon splits, you can go to: http://www.runtherock.com/news/1028_runner_tracking.html.

You can find a course and elevation map at http://www.runtherock.com/race_info/pdfs/TheRockMap2007.pdf

My schedule looks like this:
Tomorrow I’ll drive to Dallas and arrive at the expo around 11 or 12. After the expo I’ll take in a large carbohydrate lunch, and swing by an old neighbor’s house afterwards to check up on him. From there I’ll go to mass at St. Thomas Aquinas, and then go to visit Julie’s cousin for an authentic Italian pasta dinner, and more importantly, a visit with Ollie Julie’s one year old cousin. After dinner I’ll head to the hotel for a low key evening and an early bedtime. On race day Julie will drop me off at the train station where I’ll commute to the race start. She will join some friends to watch my racing partner and me along various points of the course. After I cross the finish line I don’t really care what happens. I usually have an irrepressible urge to sleep after a long, hard run, but I’m sure the adrenaline will push me back along the course to cheer on my fellow competitors, and onward to take in some post-race festivities.

I haven’t been very motivated about this race over the past couple of weeks. When I put in my two high mileage weeks, it seemed as though I was running all the time, and I was perpetually tired. During the taper period I had to fight the urge to quit altogether. I resorted to my old TV & couch routine. But for whatever reason, today I snapped out of that funk and I’m geared up for a big performance. So . . . 3, 2, 1, blastoff!

8:56, 8:28, 2:35 for .3 miles (8:36 pace)