Ready, Set, Wait!

With about 60 hours left before I land in Miami and 4 days to race start, there's not much more I can do to make myself ready. I will soon start the nutrition and hydration routine that has seen me through numerous races in the past. This race is a little bit different. It compares a lot to my first ever half marathon where the goal was to finish strong, not necessarily with any time target in mind. Coming back from Bronchitis, I have lost a significant amount of speed and endurance and until yesterday, I wasn't sure if I had it in me to run 21km this Sunday. Knowing that long distance races are often much more of a mind-trick than a body workout, I set out to run 18km, to prove to myself that I can do it. Whether that was smart or not 5 days before the race, I am not certain. What I do know is that without having done this training run, the mind tricks and the race day goblins would have started to creep up on me at km 15 or a full 6km before the end, roughly a half hour. Now I have those goblins beat until probably km 19, where a mere 10 minutes will see me end the race. I think I may have won the mind battle ahead of time, take that Goblin! Long distance runners will know what I am talking about, non runners, trust me on this, it makes all the difference to be able to trust yourself and your training until almost the very end.

Yesterday's 18km was done at 5:30m/km pace, so if I do everything right, I should come in a bit under 2 hours. But I don't really care if it takes me 2 and half hours on Sunday. The course will be beautiful and warm and the cruise boat doesn't leave until 4pm. With a 6am race start, that's plenty of time to finish, enjoy the party, get cleaned up and then head for the boat. I for one will not be sad to leave the Ottawa cold behind. We've been having a patch of -20 to -30 Celsius with some rough winds making it feel even colder.

I'm not sure how much time I'll have to update the blog after the race. Follow my twitter feed if you want to know how I did. Oh, would you look at that, it's now 59 hours before touchdown ;)

I'm BAAAAAACK!

Yeah! I feel great today. Well, that may be overstating it a bit, but I felt good enough for a run. My first in almost a month! Most signs of the bronchitis are gone so I figured I should start training again, seeing I have a half marathon in two weeks ;) I tell you I really needed this run. Even if at 8.5km in 45 minutes it's nothing to be really impressed with, getting back out there and pounding the pavement felt great. I never realize how much I love running until I miss it for a while... The Endorphins are flowing and I'm sure Alex will be relieved that Grumpy has left the building :)

It was cold and not having run through the winter made me a bit short of breath (or is that from the bronchitis?!?) but I just kept going at a very easy pace. From looking at the speed heatmap, I look pretty steady except for where the GPS reception was spotty.... I overdressed but that is okay, I knew I wouldn't be pushing it speedwise so I wanted to be sure that I would be comfortable even if I had to slow down considerably.

This run today is giving me great confidence for Miami. Even though I switched to the half, it still will be a challenge for me to finish it. I am not hoping for a PR but only to finish quickly enough to be able to hit the hotel for a shower before heading to the boat for our post race Caribbean cruise!

16504

16504... That is my BIB number for ING Miami Marathon. It is a bit weird, I usually look forward to a race, but this one I am not really feeling yet. I haven't run in over a month now, afraid that if I start running too soon I will allow the bronchitis to come back. I still have a bit of a cough but maybe the laziness has taken root after a month of not running. Chilly temperatures are not helping either... I will have to get off my butt soon if I want to stand a chance out there in Miami. I did get confirmation that my entry was bumped down to a half, but despite what a lot of people say, a half is not ONLY a half, it's still a respectable distance. I may decide at the last minute to cheer on the racers and forego the medal, who knows.

For all of those interested, Ray the DC Rainmaker is hosting another giveaway. This one is really worthwhile: a 310XT Garmin ForeRunner! So head on over to Ray's giveaway post and comment, blog, tweet and facebook all about it to get more chances!

Halving Miami

Thank you all for your kind words and your thoughtful advice. I have requested to have my registration switched to the half in Miami. I am doing much better now but not well enough to run yet. Hopefully I can start running again later this week and be in decent shape for Miami, otherwise I may skip the race altogether :(

I do have that itch to go out but it would not be wise yet.

Happy New Year!

Happy 2011 to everyone! You may have seen my tweet already... I wanted to wish everyone all the best for the New Year and lots of PRs and PBs, races, inspiring runs and goals fulfilled. I hope everyone will be happy and have success in all their endeavors and of course, peace on earth!

As for me, I've been very quiet on the training front. That cold I thought I had back in mid December was actually a bronchitis that I am now recovering from (antibiotics, nose spray, inhaler and syrup are part of my daily medication regiment). I've been resting as much as possible to make sure this goes away quickly and I am not sure what to do with Miami. There is a cruise at the end of the race that is non-negotiable but I'm thinking about reducing the distance to a half. It would be a shame to travel to Miami and not run the full course, but with no decent runs in the last 2-3 weeks and only 4 weeks to the race, I'm wondering how much I can rely on muscle memory come race day. I'll see once I am better where the break has left my endurance before I take a definitive decision.

Take care and, again, all the best for 2011. I've met some wonderful people online that inspired me and I hope to continue to build these relationships and give some back over the next 12 months for all that I have received.