The persistence of memory (non-Dali version)

Today's run (treadmill): 3.1 miles

You know the feeling you get when you think you're forgetting something? It's frustrating because you can't put your finger on it, yet you can't leave it alone. It was like that for me today. I had an early start with some business calls (this "not working" thing is turning out to be a lot of work). Before I knew it, I lost my window for my morning workout. All throughout the morning, I kept thinking something wasn't getting done. By noon I realized what it was: my run.

I'd been sequestered upstairs in my home office until midday. When my last call was finished, I came down to see that my wife had cooked up a mixture of fresh veggies and turkey burgers. Any ideas of getting in a run before lunch were dashed. The aroma of the food was just too seductive. Unfortunately this only added to my concern that today's workout would be lost to afternoon obligations.

I waited 30 minutes after lunch to start of my run and used the treadmill to save time. I was happy to finally be running and thought I'd go easy since it was right after a full meal. That plan was soon ignored and I found myself running a more aggressive pace that allowed me to hit my targeted distance within half an hour. It was a tough workout but, by the end, I was happy that I'd taken a bigger challenge. Best of all, that feeling of missing something was no longer there.

Self doubt at the end of my taper

Today's run (street): 2.5 miles

If this morning's run was a typical training workout, I would have been pleased by my performance. I pushed my speed somewhat, ran well and ended up pacing 20 seconds per mile faster than normal. So why complain about that? While I concede some performance due to the time of day (4 AM), I was hoping to finish this morning's route a full minute faster than I did.

I was speaking to my friend CK yesterday and mentioned the 8K on Sunday. I told him my goal target for time and pace and he said I should do that easily. Easy for him to say, he can run 7:00 miles any day of the week. When I was running this morning, I felt like I could push it another 10%, but after that it would be a challenge. When I returned to my house at the end of my run, I questioned whether I could even sustain the pace I'd run today over double the distance.

Last year I averaged 8:40 per mile for the ~ 5 mile NHP course. It was both a PR and a great surprise, since I'd paced 9:00 the prior two years. I've run well in races this year and did some speed work over the weekend, but I haven't done a run greater than 5 miles since May 19. I'm hoping the energy of race day, plus two days rest, decent weather and a performance mindset, will help me reach my goals on Sunday.

Decisions and anxieties

I just checked the extended forecast for Falmouth, MA on Sunday: 58 degrees and a 30% chance of precipitation. In my perfect world it would be a little colder than that but 58% with clouds could work just fine. I have a lot of decisions to make between now and Sunday at 8:30 AM:

• What clothes should I run in?
• Should I change between my first and second leg (legs 1 & 4)?
• What gear should I bring along (HRM, Garmin, iPhone, gloves)?
• Which running shoes should I wear?
• What pace should I target for each leg?
• How will I handle hydration?
• How can I keep my legs flexible between my runs?
• Should I do a practice run on Saturday or take advantage of rest?

I'm also concerned about following the course and not getting lost. I think the race people mark the route with CCM labels spray painted in prominent spots. I hope so because it would be humiliating to leave my teammates stranded due to a navigational snafu. I worry that I'm not worried about the first leg and too worried about the second. In the end it's just a race and I'll figure everything out or things will get figured out for me. Like I've said in previous competitions, I'm just going to run my race and hope for the best. In the end, if it isn't about having fun just why am I doing this?