Dress rehearsal out of the way. Decided not to go up to Boston to run it; things like how to take a shower afterward entered the consideration, plus what the family wants to do for the rest of the day. So I did my run on the bike trail here in Chatham -- ran three miles to warm up, stretched a bit, then set off at GMP. Tried not to look at my watch too much, just establish a comfortable pace. Turned out that comfortable pace was about 7:40. Then slowed down to a GA pace and logged another three miles on the way back to the cottage.
Wow. Now we're down to four days (and one cross-country flight). The three time zone jump actually works in my favor, I think; I'll be inclined to go to bed early and get up early, so a 7 a.m. start Pacific time will be no problem (10 a.m. Boston time, 9 a.m. in Arkansas). Get up at 6 or 6:30 according to my body clock, and that's be PLENTY early to get to the start without feeling rushed.
I just feel like I'm going to have a really good race -- that I'll BQ with minutes to spare. Don't care if I get under 3:20, and probably won't unless I can actually accelerate in the final 10K, but sub-3:25 would be nice. I feel I can manage that if I manage the race well -- and get my carbs and fluids reloaded in the next three days. Anyway, a recovery run tomorrow, maybe a really short one Thursday before we go catch my flight, a few strides on Friday, then hammer it for 3.5 hours (or less) on Saturday, and hopefully my two years of work will pay off. | 