1 day, 21 hours, 39 minutes and counting....

I can't sit still. I just want to run!! My first race, the Covered Bridges Half Marathon is on Sunday morning and I'm ready to go NOW!!! I hadn't planned on quite the taper that I've done this week but I think it'll be fine... my heels, feet, and calves were really tight and a little sore so rest and stretching and light jogging has been about it for me this week.

So, the plan... two weekends ago I ran 10 miles and felt great. 3.1 more didn't seem like much...then last weekend I ran 10 again, in the heat and humidity...and it didn't go quite as well - but it still went. I'm taking that as a good sign - bad last long run=good race, right? Right.

So I'll start off with an easy 10-12 minute warmup run which is what I usually do before my long runs. This race is a point to point race so we park near the finish and they bus us way out into the country so we can run back. I figure if I held between 10:45 and 11:45 min. miles for that 10 mile run, that I'll start off the first 6 miles on Sunday a little slower... somewhere in the 11:30/11:45 range. There's only 1 hill at mile 8 and it's short...Weasel Boy thinks I should stay reigned in until after the hill and then see what I've got...I'm still undecided about this as I felt so good on my training run and making things faster on the second half went well...so perhaps I'll start pouring it on closer to mile 6. Might mean I have to walk up the hill but as you can see from the elevation profile, there's a lot of flat and gradual down so that suits me just fine, especially because I've been training on rollers. I think it's realistic for me to hold 11:00 or just under for at least the last three miles. So that's the plan.

If things go according to plan, the weather will cooperate too. Last year when I did this race for the first time, they took 12 people off the course with heat exhaustion/borderline heatstroke. All the finishing times were super slow, even for the gazelles...we had a full month of cool (40˚F) rainy weather and then race day dawned 90˚F, humid and sunny. It was the first day of hot an no one was prepared. I tossed my plan about 5 miles in when it became about survival and finishing, not about reaching my goal time. I've never felt so bad after a race. But I finished...I was shooting for 2:30 and I came in at 2:55.

So far, the forecast right now is for cloudy, highs in the low 70s and a 20% chance of rain. I'll take that. We'll have to see what unfolds over the next day. I know I can beat 2:55. I'll be thrilled if I can hold 11:27 minute miles to hit 2:30 dead on... but I'd really like to be faster than that. 11:00 min miles would be around 2:24.

Now, I realize I used up my one and only prediction of my finishing time by guessing Bolder's finishing time, to the second. So I'm gonna hedge a little bit and declare that I'd like to come in between 2:30 and 2:20. In the spirit of the Tri blog alliance, I'd like to give everyone else the opportunity to predict my time...

Tri Barb has set the bar, predicting I will PR with a 2:22. Anyone else care to make a prediction? The prize is your choice...either a fresh new blog header, complete with directions on how to put it up, OR an oversized (like 3' x 4') custom made poster of YOU in your favorite triathlete pose (the only catch is that you have to send me the photo - I'll take it from there!!!) So? What say you? Better include seconds too as we could have many winners if ya'll only choose minutes...

1 day, 21 hours, 8 minutues, and counting....