Kerry's Running Blog

I'm also anxious to see how all you guys do this year at SGM as I'm thinking there will be quite a few PRs.

I'm tempted to do down as a spectator if I could find a place to stay but on the other hand the last time I 'spectated' it was really tough to just watch and not be participating.

I'm glad to hear you're feeling good. You should be. You've been training very well. You looked very strong when we ran that 20 miler together.

I've been feeling pretty good myself. I always get nervous when I'm feeling this good. It's normally about the time I step on a rock in the dark and roll my ankle or develop some nagging injury. I think you worry about that stuff, too, like the sore arch in your right foot during Friday's run.

I had a near miss just this morning, as I had to dodge an apple on the road in my path in the dark. I may have mentioned this before, but my family uses the phrase "don't waste a worry", meaning why worry about something that hasn't happened yet, and may not ever happen. If it never happens, you've wasted a worry. If it happens, then worry about it.

So I'm not going to worry about the fleeting pains in my left arch, my bum left knee, the twinge in my left achilles this morning, or about apples in the road. If things go well, I'll PR at St. George. If I step on an apple, I'll spectate and cheer on you and the other runners. I've decided life's too short to spend too much time or energy worrying about what might happen.

We're both going to finish up our training strong, without injury, run St. George strong, and celebrate new PR's together in the finisher's corral. I think Tom has learned his lesson this year, and will be there next year so we can all celebrate new PR's together.

SGM won't be the same without Tom! This is just such a fun time of year.

I'm thinking about taking a different strategy with the race this year. I got the idea from reading something that Joan Benoit Samuelson said a while back. Her race strategy was basically run faster when you're feeling good and slow down a bit when you're not. I tried that approach at Provo River and finished with a two minute PR on that course feeling great.

It's a little bit riskier for a full marathon, but this year I'm not feeling like I have too much to lose if I really crash and burn. I've been training a little harder than last year and I think I can beat my PR, but I should at least be able to BQ with the extra ten minutes I get this year. I'll wear my Garmin but more just for post-race analysis than being guided by it during the race. Anyway, I'll have to see how it goes.

I think this is a good strategy Kerry. The last couple of years I've run SGM very conservative with specific goals in mind, relying heavily on the garmin and pace chart/bracelent. It definitely helped me reach the goals but as I felt a little too good the last miles of the race I'm pretty sure I did not run the race to my potential.

We had a discussion about this with Sasha and a couple other runners on another blog Saturday debating the merits of running by 'feel' vs. running scientifically with spreadsheets, garmins, pace bracelets, etc. To me it's kind of the 'art' vs. the 'science' of running.

My feeling and what appeared to be the concensus among the runners that commented is that if you really want to go for broke and have a chance to run your ultimate race then the best chance is to ignore the watch a bit and do the run by feel thing. This is the approach I've been taking with shorter races this year and I'm eager to try it out in some longer races next year. I think there is also a certain liberation that comes from getting rid of the excess hi-tech baggage and gear and just focusing solely on the running.

I can't believe I just said all that, what with me being among the most techo-geek and fan of hi-tech 'baggage' of most runners I know.

I also support the strategy. That was essentially the strategy I used to PR at both the Nestles 5K and Hobble Creek Half this year. I agree that it is riskier for a full marathon.

I like the way Sasha worded it in the recent blog discussion I think Tom is referring to (http://michellelowry.fastrunningblog.com/blog-Spanish-Fork-1-2-Marathon/09-08-2007.html). Sasha said, "I would say go out comfortably hard, entirely based on effort, ignore the pace, get to 20 and then just hang in there."

I think that's the strategy I'm going to try this year.

Kerry, this will be an interesting year at St. George with all the bloggers. I have read the comments on race strategy. I am going to try it this weekend at TOU, hopefully 1:35 first half and then hang on. I have nothing to lose, too old for PRs, but, would still like to break 3:20. Good luck at St. George. It seems our 5K and half marathon times a pretty close this year. James of Arizona wants to hook up and pace, maybe talk about it at the Pasta party, group effort.