Alright, folks, the race is a mere 40 hours away and it’s just now starting to set in. The expo is opening today at 3pm and the “This is the Final Pre-Race Email” emails are hitting my inbox. Facebook is all a-twitter with updates from the local running stores and Twitter is all a-facebook with similar tweets. So with the race this weekend, let’s set some goals to hold me moderately accountable, shall we?

Racing Hat: Texas Edition

Since the San Antonio Marathon success my running never really found a groove. I put in some miles, but nothing too intense. A little less than three weeks ago, out of nowhere, I ran a blazing 3M Half Marathon, which zapped just about all of the remaining running motivation from my legs*. So now with the Austin Marathon happening on Sunday, I’ve had a tough time coming up with a good race plan. I’ll try to work backwards to come up with something coherent.

First, the weather and course have a lot to do with how I should approach Sunday. With a hilly course (about 19 miles uphill) and an expected 93% humidity, it’s not exactly ideal for setting any land-speed records. This would lend itself nicely to making a more conservative goal. Second, since my training has resembled something found in the ‘Potpourri’ category on Jeopardy!** than a structured training plan, I’d call this more of an experiment. In the final week before the race, when one should be tapering and resting, my workout log looks like this:

Saturday – 12.5 mile run
Sunday – 11.5 mile bike
Monday – lift weights
Tuesday – 5 mile run
Wednesday – 1 mile swim
Thursday – 5K time trial

Not exactly “textbook”. With all that out in the open, along with past results, delusional self-confidence, and good-old gut feel, I’m ready to state my goal for the race. If nothing catastrophic happens, we’ll be looking to come in under 3 hours 40 minutes, or 8:23 min/mile. That’s 18 minutes slower than San Antonio, and would be my fifth fastest*** marathon (out of ten). I think it’s reasonable, and takes into account all the unjustifiable justifications I make to

myself.

Wish me luck and you can cheer for #612. It should be a good time for everyone! Come back for my race report, which is sure to be a doozy.

PS- Don’t forget to cheer for Derrick too, who will be working towards beating Oprah on his way to a new PR.

*If you couldn’t tell, I’m trying to lower your expectations with excuses for setting lower-than-usual goals. Thanks for playing along.

**Damn you, Watson!

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p>***Or sixth slowest if you want to think of it that way, but that would make you a fun sponge.