Buttsweat Towel© season has begun

Heat is definitely a factor, but don't stress it too much. Probably as May approaches you'll be more conditioned to the heat anyway, so hopefully that'll help!

Good pace. Is it any surprise that getting mistaken for a prisoner would make you run faster? Must be subliminal. Next time wear your racing shirt.

See I would've thought the prisoners wore orange...next time, racing shirt.

Wow, what an adventure. good thing the guard didn't tackle you. LOl. NIce job on the run. It would be so hard to focus on the run with so much beautiful scenery.

Great job - nice strong finish - that will pay dividends come race day. I am going to post something here that came from a runner in our group that ran 2:40's in his last 2 marathons, one was San Antonio in 09 - which was a disaster heat wise, and this year in Houston, which was warm and 100% humidity. I hope it helps.

Here you go: (Sorry, it's kinda long)

My most important piece of advice would be this: put the weather completely out of your mind. Don't think about it, don't worry about it, don't talk about it, try your best to forget about it entirely. You can't change it, you can't control it, so don't waste any mental energy on it. I believe that while marathon training is a physical undertaking, the marathon itself is mostly a mental endeavor. You need all of your mental focus on what you can control, on the task at hand. Giving yourself a weather excuse or letting the weather steal focus from your plan can only detract from you reaching your goal.

Racing a marathon is about belief ... belief in your training, belief in your ability and belief you can reach your goal. If you believe you can do it, you just might. If you believe the weather will hurt you, it probably will.

As for the physical side, my plan in the two humid marathons I've run has been to take 1 gatorade and 1 water at each water stop. In S.A. I switched to no gatorade and 2 waters on the second half, dumping the second one over my head. In Houston I stayed with the 1/1 plan the whole race. What I didn't do was stress about getting enough "hydration". I took what I could and kept racing. Don't waste energy because you only got 4 ounces instead of 8 ounces.

As for nutrition, in SA I took a Gu every 5 miles, but in Houston I only took 1 Gu at mile 18. Again, I didn't stress about it. Mental focus needs to go into the race, not the water, the Gu, the weather.

I don't know if any of this helps, but I can't stress enough how important I think the mental side of the marathon is. For such an intensely physical thing, your thoughts are what matter and what will actually determine your experience. Not the weather.

Best of luck.

That is truly a great run and a funny report. I think you are bullet-proof for a PR in OKC no matter the weather, unless it is 100+ or something crazy dangerous like that, and you have a major PR lined up even if the weather is imperfect but at least a little bit reasonable. Like DH says, think positive and don't worry about it.

DG - yeah, glad I escaped that one. Fortunately the sewage plant didn't smell too bad.

DH - thanks for posting that - it sounds like good advice to me. I've found myself wondering if I mentally defeated myself in the Houston marathon the last 10K. Could I have just sped up? Not sure... Pretty sure I quit trying in Longview last weekend.

FL - thanks, I'm hoping with my improvements I've created enough of a buffer where 3:20 will be possible on a warmer day (or a PR at least, like you said). I think the other piece for me is that I need to negative split my effort better in a race since that's what I do in training and is more comfortable to me.

That's hilarious! I even read that outloud to my husband so he could laugh!

It was great weather for running today in north Texas! You had an awesome run today! I'm sure you'll hit your goal at your marathon!

Whooo...Hoooo great run Turbo Joe... I'm trying my best to catch up to you so we can run together in OKC but the way you're improving I don't think it's going to happen.

BTW...notice how I didn't say anything about how I hope the weather is good in OKC this time... :)

Joe, I love what flatlander posted. Nothing is going to stop you from sub 3:20 but your mind--you are in fantastic shape and are going to pull off a massive, massive pr!

Lindsey - thanks, it was definitely a great day for a run. Usually the most exciting thing that happens to me is a staredown with a bunch of cows.

IJR - thanks, I'll do my best too. Save my excuses for after the race!

Thanks April, I'll definitely be happy with any improvement over Houston since that was a great race for me.

This is your best entry ever. And even if you were an escaped convict, I don't think you would have been much of a threat. No hard feelings, eh?

Burt...I'm gonna shank you in your sleep.

yawn.