So, yeah, Chicago is less than 4 weeks away and what have I done? Well, in some ways, quite a bit. I've really picked up my mileage and have brought my times down a skoosh. The weather in the midsouth has gotten a bit more temperate and morning runs have not been quite so arduous, so that's helped. I ran a 10K in just over an hour (9 seconds to be exact). That's the kind of pace I'd like to do the marathon in.
On the other hand, I've lost weight, but oh so slowly. At the rate I'm going, I'll be in prime shape for Chicago 2015. I have 4 weeks to make sure that, at the least, I'm down a few pounds and priming my body for the rigors of 26 miles with good fuel.
I have one more long run before the marathon. I'm torn on which way to go. Do I just do 18 or 20 miles and call it good or do I try for 23 or 24. There's a part of me that wants to be sure I can do the distance, but it will only be two weeks out from the race and I have a tough 10 miler the week between so I'm leaning more towards a shorter run. I'll probably let how I'm feeling and the weather and all that decide.
I did a 15 mile trail run on Sunday and man, I am sore. It was a tough run with lots of up and down hills. Lots of logs to jump over, duck under and generally avoid. Stinging nettles and thorns to run through. Stumps to trip over, etc. I'm hoping that this was good muscle building for the marathon. My running partner wants me to do a race on the trails we ran in February. I'll have to make a decision on that soon. If I do it, I'll have to subject myself to that course a few times for training. Some parts of it are really beautiful, some are tortuous.
Anyway, that's about where I'm at. My longest run since the MS River Marathon is just under 20 miles. I'm doing about 120 miles a month. Some runs have been great and I've felt strong afterwards. Others have been abject failures and made me question my readiness for Chicago.
Four weeks from yesterday will be the test.
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