70 Days and Counting!

Chicago is in ten weeks, or 70 days. My training is going well. I'm finding myself able to complete workouts that I think will be pretty hard; and really, they don't end up being that hard at all. Maybe a little challenging, but I'm not ever thinking I'm at a risk for not finishing.

This week has been my hardest training yet. I completed 45 miles, and more than a few were good, quality miles. I did speed work of mile repeats on Tuesday (a 10 mile workout, with 5 mile repeats), a nice mid-distance run on Thursday for eight miles that averaged 8:43 per mile for the entire run, and today's 13 miler with 5 mile surges at <8:20.

I also ran three other easy runs this week (I'm running six days per week). I feel good. I don't think I could have completed this week at any point during my Ottawa training.

I'm not asking for much, and I don't want to be a hero. Just 3:50:59 or below chip time in Chicago. I want to hit 8:45s for every mile, one right after another. I tell myself, "8:45, 8:45, 8:45..." That's all. This time around, I don't think it's a 99 to 1 long shot. I think I'm even likely to nail it.

As every marathoner knows, so many things have to come together. Health, family situations, weather, training, soundness, hydration, etc. But for now, things seem to be right on track for meeting that 3:50 qualifying time. And I'm pretty comfortable in saying, "Yeah, I CAN do it this time." Let's see!