120

I'm officially on countdown to the CCM, and my head is finally getting in to the game. I went out for my last "long" run of 10 miles on Sunday, and felt good and strong. After Friday's minor calf tweak, I was worried about potentially injuring myself more so close to the race. But I was also worried about the mental impact of not getting in another long run before the marathon. In the end my mental state took priority, and the calf responded well.

At the start of the run, my legs were tight in different spots. The left calf, the right hammy, what's that twinge in the hip flexors, does my knee feel right? Because I was paranoid about the calf, I tuned into every little ache. At 10 minutes into the run, I took a planned stretch break and worked out some kinks. By twenty minutes in, I was warmed up and the legs were feeling good. Phew.

My mantra on this run was 1:20, which was my goal time for this 10 mile loop. It works out to an 8 minute mile pace, which is my way-aggressive strectch goal for the marathon (3:30). I figured that if I could hold that pace on this super hilly route, I could do it for the marathon. Whether that's true or not doesn't matter. I hit my goal (within 1 minute), which satisfied me mentally. I'm now ready for Sunday. The rest of the week is all about prep through eating right, a couple of short feel good runs and good thoughts.

Let's make a plan for meeting up on race morning. Mrs. VTR and I will be checking out the course on Saturday afternoon as well.