Wheeler Farm Loops

AM - 10 miles easy w/ Andrea. Woke up to rain, so we went grocery shopping first, and then it was really nice outside by the time we got started. The new track at Olympus high school is in place.

AM - 5 miles. Ran 3 w/ Andrea and then another loop around the block. Did extra pushups because I have an abundance of energy to burn off. I also need to make sure my arms are big enough to keep my arm warmers from falling off. Laugh if you will, but Andrea has that problem! :-)

PM - 5 miles. A mini-workout to keep the legs turning over. 8 x 400m w/ 200m float... the first six were at marathon pace - 82, 79, 78, 78, 78, 78... then I let myself run "fast but relaxed" on the last two - 67, 66.  

Last night we had an enjoyable dinner and great conversations with the Murphy clan. I think Rob just invited us over so we would become obsessed with Summit (their dog) and offer to puppy-sit him anytime they needed. If that was the case, his plan was 100% successful.

AM - 5 miles. Horsepark loop w/ Andrea, then added on a little loop on our street. 

PM - 3 miles around the block. 

A couple people have asked if there will be live updates / tracking at Philly. It appears that they have a pretty decent system in place. I compiled all the info for a post on our blog: Live updates from Philly. Supposedly there will be timing mats at 10K, 1/2, and 30K. And there is some "map-tracker" that hasn't gone live yet... not sure how that would work unless they put a tiny GPS chip in everyone's bib :-)

AM - 8.4 miles. Workout at Liberty Park. Nothing too hard, just enough to keep the legs from getting flat. Warmed up 2 miles, then did 3 x 1 mile with an easy mile in between (full recovery is essential at this point... the last thing you want to do it wear yourself down even a fraction of a percent). Splits were 5:14, 5:07, 4:56. It was tough getting going on the first one especially, which I think was due to the fact that it was early and COLD!

The Training Wisdom of John Kellogg. This is an old thread from Letsrun that I don't remember ever reading. Its interesting that pretty much everything I believe about training is in these 2 pages. I guess I've picked up a lot from JK and the Brojos over the years. Not to mention that its all pretty much Lydiard-based. I wanted to share this because in 2 concise pages, it covers 98% of what you need to know about running fast. Print a copy. This is a case where its OK to kill a tree :-)

AM - 6 miles, JAJA. My legs feel downright springy.

PM - 2 miles with 4x200m @ MP. Some new additions to the elite fields for Sunday. A 2:12 guy and 60-flat guy. I think its safe to say I'm gonna be letting that lead pack do their own thing. I'm racing the clock!

Last night we went to the USATF banquet - Andrea and I were the guest speakers, which was a very nice honor. We sat at the kids table with Allie and James. It was awesome to feel such genuine support from so many other people... we know we have a lot of people pulling for us this weekend, and that is a really good feeling.

In the raffle I won a free entry into the Ogden Marathon! The chances that I would actually run a spring marathon in 2012 are about 0.001% (or less). But as Emily said, I can probably make a lot of money selling that bib :-) 

I wasn't kidding about the kids' table. They even gave us chalk. Here is some of the artwork... 

Allie drew this... 

And James counted with this...
 

AM - 4.4 miles, horsepark loop w/ Andrea.

Last chance blogging frenzy! Pre-Marathon Odds and Ends -  Andrea's Final Miles Motivation (I especially love the one about "losing weight with every step to make it easier!" - Nothing new on race day.

And finally, I already wrote what is essentially "part one" of my race report, because it really stands on its own, regardless of how things go this weekend: The Journey (so far)

Leaving for Philly later this afternoon.

3.8 miles along the river and the start/finish areas of the course. Travel was relatively uneventful... direct flight to Philly, got in late and spent last night at a hotel by the airport, then took the train downtown this morning and checked into our nice hotel in Logan Circle. Surprisingly they had our room ready for us at 9:30am, which was pretty sweet (and convenient). After running we've just been taking it easy - got some lunch, went to the expo, and hung out w/ Andrea's parents for a while. Our hotel room has a kitchen so we didn't have to bother with the hassle of going out to dinner. 

Thanks for all the good wishes we've gotten this week - it really means a lot to us! 

Really looking forward to getting after it tomorrow morning.  

We decided to go Galen Rupp style at the airport and in the place yesterday... the mask definitely keeps people from sitting next to you!