until the Carlsbad Marathon. I am surprisingly calm. Which probably means that I will be hyperventilating at 5 a.m. tomorrow.
I head south to Carlsbad in two hours. E. and Nelson may or may not come with me, as E. just returned at 0400 from a cross-country flight from hell from La Guardia to LAX, in which his flights got delayed, canceled, re-routed, and delayed once again. (Note: Do not fly Delta. You will regret it.)
I'm really looking forward to having an early-evening dinner with Anne and T., a bubbly woman from San Diego who I ran with in the first soggy miles of the Honolulu Marathon last month. And T. said she will run the last six miles of Carlsbad with me.
I feel sorry for her. Maybe I should tape over my mouth so I don't pepper her with expletives in that most difficult part of the race.
The burning question: At what pace should I race? My right foot still twinges with pain when I run (although not when I walk). Originally, Carlsbad was going to be my Boston-qualifier race. But my long though peripatetic training just does not bear that out.
If I were suicidal, I would try to hang with the 3:40 pace group. Going with the 3:50 pace group would qualify as semi-crazy. And were I merely nuts, I could stick with the 4:00 pace group. Hmmmm.
What'll it be?
We'll find out tomorrow.
Over and out.
Have a great time! Stick with the 4:00 group and leave them in the dust on the 8 mile leg heading north along the coast at the very end of the race.
ReplyDeleteGood luck! Have a great time and please say hello to Ann for me!
ReplyDeleteoh geeze, that's a hard question. don't worry about cursing, people understand what happens in that last 10k!
ReplyDeletesee how you feel in the a.m. if you're feeling strong, SAFETY TABS OFF and go for it.
If not, be conservative. you can always speed up.
Your east coast coach,
j
Well since my running partner says I'm a speed demon(although I am no speedster next to you),I would say go for broke. But giving the fact your nursing an injury(believe me,I FEEL your pain!),play it "merely nuts" & hang w/ the 4:00pace group. Good luck at the race & thanks for stopping by my site & well wishes.
ReplyDelete