I've only been asked about a hundred times this week. To which my response was always "We'll see..."
I've raced more than I planned this spring. I've traveled more than I planned. I've worked more hours than I planned. And I've eaten waay more than I planned. But all in all my training has probably gone as well as I could have expected it to. My training pace has definitely gotten faster and I've been happy with the races I've done. Well, for the most part. Chippewa still bugs me but I'll get over it. Someday :)
I'm going to start with the 3:15 pace group (7:26's) and see how I feel at mile 10. Hopefully good enough to kick it down to 7:20's... and downwards from there for the next 10 to 7:00 minute miles. Continue at that and I'll cross the finish line in under 3:12. If things start to go downhill I'll change strategy and try to stay strong enough to PR (sub-3:16:43). If things feel like they are still going well by mile 20, I'll try to push it a bit more for the final 10K. My goal is to feel completely spent at the finish line unlike two years ago when my immediate thought was 'damn, I could have run faster'. No, there'll be none of that on Saturday!
No doubt I'll feel a bit out of place lining up with the 3:15 group. Or any group under 3:30. I'm sure I'll be about 20lbs heavier than the rest of the females around me. At 150 I'm 15 heavier than 2007. NOT where I intended to be when I signed up in January. But then January plans never quite pan out... still, it doesn't seem to have affected the running much so far. Though I'd definitely be happier to be closer to 140 which I think is a good weight for me. Not that the donought I had for lunch would know anything about that.
GOOD LUCK to everyone running this weekend.
One more goal... that Grandma's remains my favourite race!!
