I don't know if my brain is going to survive the month of November, with both Gansett and Philly on the horizon. I'm an absolute basket case, and finding it difficult to think about anything that's not related to one race or the other.
Gansett is this Sunday, and on top of the usual pre-race jitters, I have the pre-race jitters that come from being part of the race committee planning the event.
We have an incredible team, and everyone knows what they need to do and is getting it done, but I'm still a nervous wreck. Registrations for the race are well over 500, and we'll likely end up with around 600 runners on race day. It's been a crazy month, getting all the final details ironed out, and we're still not quite done, so my mind has been racing all week.
And when I'm feeling like that, the best thing for me to do is get out for a run, so I'm glad I've been able to do that. I'm not really following my training plan anymore, except for trying to get in the mileage. No speedwork to speak of, but I am putting in some tempo-ish miles when I can.
I typically run on Tuesdays, but since I had done my long run last Saturday, and I really needed a little stress relief on Monday, I got out for a few miles then. I didn't really plan on any specific pace, but ended up running an average 7:45 pace for 4.5 miles. A short run, but it felt great.
Yesterday's run was a little more challenging, since the temperature climbed to 70 degrees, and it was even a little humid. I had already forgotten how much that increase in temperature affects your run, and my 7 miles was definitely slower - average 8:00 pace. I enjoyed the warm weather in all other respects, but I am kind of glad it'll be colder for this weekend's race.
It was a good 10 degrees cooler today, and I really needed to burn off some nervous energy, so I headed out again and did the exact same 7-mile loop, at exactly the same 8-minute pace, but instead of how tough it felt yesterday, today it felt downright easy. Weather can really be a deal-breaker.
Speaking of weather - I've been weather stalking for Sunday, and for a little while it looked like it might rain, but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. But what we are going to deal with is wind, and lots of it. It's going to make the second half of the course a tough stretch to run, but I've definitely run that route in windy conditions before, so I'll just make the best of it.
I'm going to confirm tomorrow that we truly have enough volunteers that I'm not needed on the course, and if that's the case, and it's ok for me to run, I'm going to go for it and really race. I have 15 miles on the schedule, so a 13-mile race will fit very nicely.
I love racing on the roads I train on - one reason the Gansett Marathon was such an amazing race for me - and being familiar with every twist and turn on the course provides a definite advantage. And even in the wind, it's a fast course.
I'm not really sure what I'll be able to do in terms of pace, but I'm thinking of starting around 7:40 for the first few miles, and going from there. My hope is that I can run a little faster than I did in Newport a few weeks ago, but we'll see.
What I do know is that my hip, my piriformis, and my adductor all feel great. I'm going for PT tomorrow, and will likely go one more time next week, just for a final little tuneup before Philly, but I'm feeling like everything is in great shape, so knock on wood that it stays that way.
Being so focused on Gansett has been good in that it's taken my mind off of Philly for a few weeks, but once we close the book on Gansett, I'm going to go full force into Philly craziness.
Luckily it's all good crazy stuff - and stuff that, a few weeks ago, I wasn't even sure I'd be able to do, so I'll take the crazy!
2 days 'til Gansett, 3 weeks 'til Philly!
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