Myrtle Beach Marathon Pregame

Less than a week to the Myrtle Beach Marathon.  I'll run 3 on Tuesday, 2 on Friday down in Myrtle Beach, then run the marathon at 6:30 AM on Saturday.

Live tracking and results can be found at this link: MB Results.

Strategy for the race? I've been thinking about that all day. I ran the 8 miles this morning easily and without pushing it at all, and ran a sub-9 minute pace. I felt like I could have run forever at that speed. My remaining marathon goal is to run sub 3:40, which would be a Boston Qualifier (BQ) for me. That's an 8:23 pace for the marathon.

The whole training cycle went well, I'm healthy with no pain in ankles or knees, and feel strong. The one fly in the ointment is that I'm not as light as I was in 2015 for my marathons. I was 180 or less for the Clarence Demar race and both Disney races. This year I was well over 190 for the disasters at Waitsfield Vt and the Bucks County Marathon. I've managed to get back under 190 for Myrtle Beach but not by much. The odd thing is that I feel much lighter than that and am wearing the same clothes (size 34 jeans) that I bought when I was at my thinnest in 2015. But the scale says 188.

A 3:40 marathon is a 1:50 half marathon pace. Since I start slowly anyway, the smart thing to do will be to start moderately and negative split the second half if I'm feeling it. What I did in both my first Disney race and the Clarence Demar was to forget about my watch and spend the first half dozen miles settling in to a pace I thought I could sustain. I think I'll try that at Myrtle Beach. If it turns out that the pace is such that I might have a chance at 3:40, then I'll hold that into the second half, then make a judgment about trying to speed up later in the race.

There is no way I'm starting fast in an aggressive approach to the race. The last thing I want is a death march in the final 10k. I'd rather forego the 3:40 than go thru that.

I don't think it will come to that. I feel healthier and stronger than at any time since the Demar marathon in Sept. 2015. But the fear is definitely there, which I suppose is a good thing.

Right now the weather forecast is looking ideal: Low of 46, high of 56, with 10 mph wind.

Here we go...

This Week in Running 2/26/17

Total Miles: 26

Tuesday: 4
Wednesday: 6  (including D5K - 30:50. Ran it easy for taper mode)
Thursday: 4
Saturday: 4 (10:02,9:11,8:54,9:00)
Sunday: 8 (8:57 pace)
1.  9:36
2.  9:00
3.  8:52
4.  8:59
5.  8:52
6.  8:44
7.  8:45
8.  8:51

This Week in Running 2/19/15

Total Miles: 33

Tuesday: 5
Wednesday: 2 - scheduled for 8 but wasn't feeling it. Skipped the D5K as well.
Thursday: 10 - made up some of the miles missed Wednesday
Saturday: 4 (9:20,8:14,8:26,8:35)
Sunday: 12 (9:12 pace)
1.   9:55
2.   9:21
3.   9:12
4.   9:16
5.   9:01
6.   9:05
7.   9:03
8.   8:56
9.   9:08
10. 9:07
11. 9:04
12. 9:13

This Week in Running 2/12/17

Total Miles: 50

Tuesday: 5 (treadmill at Planet Fitness)
Wednesday: 10  - including D5K (23:30 - 7:47,7:45,7:34)
Thursday: 5
Saturday: 10 (treadmill at Planet Fitness. Gradually increased the pace so I was running 8:19 miles the last 4)
Sunday: 20, 10:02 pace on the roads. All the sand and slush made it like running on the beach.
1.  10:28
2.    9:55
3.    9:54
4.  10:10
5.    9:48
6.  10:00
7.    9:51
8.    9:52
9.  10:12
10.10:04
11.10:13
12.10:02
13.  9:53
14.10:17
15.10:01
16.10:19
17.  9:43
18.  9:51
19.10:02
20.10:07

So I made it through the peak training without getting injured... now for a three week taper.

This Week in Running 2/5/17

Total Miles: 34

Tuesday: 5
Wednesday: 6  - including D5K (23:05 - 7:43,7:45,7:19)
Thursday: 5
Saturday: 6 (10:01,9:32,9:34,9:44,9:42,9:35)
Sunday: 12 
1.  10:11
2.    9:31
3.    9:25
4.    9:32
5.    9:38
6.    9:41
7.    9:17
8.    9:10
9.    9:33
10.  9:39
11.  9:42
12.  9:35

Coming up next week: Last peak mileage week followed by taper to the Myrtle Beach Marathon.

On Mysterious Foot Pain.

About 5 miles in to the 20 mile run last Sunday, I felt a sharp pain in the sole of my left foot. I thought a sharp pebble might have popped in to my shoe. The pain was brief so I ignored it. A few miles later it happened again: A brief shot of sharp pain. This time I stopped, took off the shoe and shook it out. I thought something might have come out, so I put the shoe on and continued the run. All good for a couple of miles, and then the sharp pain again. I took the shoe off again and this time felt around on the inside for something that wasn't supposed to be there, finding nothing. I also noticed some blood on the bottom of my sock. This happened on and off for the rest of the run - an occasional sharp pain. By the end of the run I figured it wasn't a pebble and maybe was a splinter.

My daughter Ellen volunteered to look at the bottom of my foot (after a shower!) and thought she might have detected a splinter. She probed around with a pair of tweezers for a while but could get nothing out. Googling splinters on the internet, one popular remedy was to put a baking soda plaster on the injury overnight. It was supposed to swell up the skin and squeeze the splinter out. I tried it but the next morning nothing had changed.

Monday was a rest day so I just ignored my foot and felt no pain in any case. Hoping the thing had gone away on its own, I went on a 5 mile run after work on Tuesday. Sure enough, a mile in I felt that sharp pain again in the sole of my left foot. I turned around and ran home, cursing all the way. 

I barged into the house, plunked down on our couch where Tricia was watching TV. I took off the shoe cursing some more and again began to search for something that was the cause of the pain. Seeing I was about to lose it, Tricia asked for the shoe.

She looked at it briefly and handed it back, pointing out the nail sticking through the bottom of the sole.