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Columbus Marathon – Getting My Head in the Game

So my next marathon is on the horizon! (Yay!)

Do I feel ready? (Sort of)

Do I think I’ll be ready race day? (Yes?)

Do I think I’ll finish? (Yes.)

Current physical state? Tired. Hopefully another week of taper will help with that.

Current mental state? Tired. Again, see above.

Am I totally ready to attempt to BQ? YES!

Even though I’m tired, it hasn’t been reflected in my run paces so I don’t think it will affect me too much. I’m super excited to be in Ohio and surrounded by friends and family and get to run on my “home turf”. It’s not really my running home turf, that’s here in the Bay, but it’s my childhood home turf so running on familiar yet unfamiliar streets will be fun! This race is going to hold a lot of importance for me on a variety of personal levels.

Plus the course is super flat! As long as I keep it together to around mile 19 (where that last hill is on the course elevation map) I think I’m good. It’ll give me 6+ miles to really enjoy the run and bring it in. Plus, miles 16-20, yep those are some very, very familiar streets. Winning!

So here are my goals:

  • Conservative Goal: Set a new PR (sub 3:44 – last PR was set in SF)
  • Realistic Goal: Beat 3:40
  • Stretch Goal: Beat 3:35 (BQ qualifying)
  • Super Stretch: Beat 3:33 (Safer BQ qualifying time)

It’s going to be hard but if I stay mentally focused and think about the Jeni’s ice cream and fun I have in store for post-race, I think I’ve got it in my tank to meet at least one of these goals. I just need to make sure to give my body some rest and on the flip side get my butt to the track this weekend to shake out my legs a bit to get them moving faster.

So going through my goals and strategies is how I prepare for race day, what’s your strategy?

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