Today I did a short run over the bridge and into Manhattan. It was 3.31 miles at a 7:09 pace. I was really goading myself, trying to memorize the feelings of going fast on the Queensboro Bridge for Sunday, when I’ll cross it again for the NYC Marathon. My strategy, if I can handle it, is to push up the bridge, and once I’ve hit Standpipe 4 where the bridge levels off, to push myself still on the flat surface, then really push myself downhill. Granted, this is somewhere around 15 miles into the race so that might not be available to me, but the hope was that memorizing the feelings of speed may help me lock better into that pace one amounting.
Here are today’s deets:
I stopped where I did to catch the subway to pick up a package at my old work. The pressure of my old work closing helped push me to go fast, in addition to the logic of intense training the two weeks before a marathon.
I haven’t really been able to exploit the intense-training principle this year. Tuesday and Wednesday I was on a commercial with long hours in challenging cold, and while it was a commercial as a runner and got to run, I didn’t really run for training benefit from what I estimate. I did, however, get to collect some rest. These last couple weeks have been brutal on me. I’ve been working every day for about 17 days straight (if you include the conference I attended), and I’ve been doing it on 4-6 hours of sleep most of those times. Tuesday night I got about 9 hours of sleep, and today I got in a nap in addition to a nice night’s sleep.
Not working today means more time to focus. I barely know what I’m up against for the NYC Marathon, having simply opened my race packet. I’ll attend the expo Friday or Saturday. I’ll do some planning tonight. I’ll get my mind about this. I’ll figure out a goal pace and see what it will take and if I can manage. At this point, my training has been so erratic, it’s much too hard to predict my finishing time. I think I’ll beat my finishing time for my last NYC Marathon (3:28:03), which was done in 7:56s 5 years ago. I’m a better runner than then, at least I think. Will I qualify for Boston again? I’d have to do a 3:15. It’s really hard to say. Wish me luck.