Fartleks

Today we did some easy fartleks on the trail. Weds before a marathon is usually just diagonals at Auditorium shores so this was a change. The weather did change for the really colder. It was near freezing with a nasty wind out of the north. I had 3 layers on top with tights and a ski hat. We did a 15 minute warmup toward MoPac on the trail. I ran with the a mix of folks including Amy, Carrie and some other ladies. Once we hit 15 minutes we started 1 on and 1 off fartleks. We turned around at the bridge and headed back. We did 10 sets and finished with less a half mile to go for a little bit of a cool down. I did 10 strides with Alex and we headed over to the RunTex annex for some stretching. I think we invaded the Rogue turf because we were getting dirty looks, but screw 'em! We took our corner and it was nice to do some visiting out of the elements.

So I have two rest days in a row and then a 30 minute easy run on Saturday. It is time for some goals, but I am going into this marathon with no pressure at all and it feels great. I am going to shoot for a 3:30 (8:00 pace) at the start and see how I feel after the first half of the race. If I am feeling good, I will pick it up over the last half. My plan is to also attack the course in the appropriate places and back off during the hills. That seemed to work for me at 3M and at the 20 mile race so we will see how it goes for this one. I can't believe it will be my 10th marathon. The weather forecast is looking great and I am looking forward to a great day on the course.

Stats - Warm Up and Fartleks - 4.24 miles/37:05/8:44 pace
10 strides - .75 miles