Spring Wrap-up & week 1 of Marathon Training

So it has been awhile since I have posted anything.  I've been busy with training, moving, work, and things that weren't really any value to my time... Anyway, I just finished my first week of my marathon block and I'm very excited for this fall!

Recaps:

Brooklyn Half Marathon:
Saturday, May 17th, 2014

The race ended up being fantastic, however I did not think that was going to be the case that morning.  The race started at 7:00 a.m., which required us to leave the hotel around 5:20.  By the time we got to the start, we missed baggage check and were forced to put our bags in the "late baggage van".  By the time I got into my corral (which was 6:40) I had barely warmed up.  I then stood in the corral for 30 minutes (the race started 10 minutes late because of parked vehicle on the course).  At that point I thought this wasn't going to be the race... but it was.

The first 5k was fast.  18:20.  The second 5k was slow, I worried I had ruined my race as I slowed down during this portion, however this was the hilliest section.  The second 10k of the race ended up being faster than the first 10k and I held my pace until the finish.  The official race time was 1:18:28, a 2 minute 53 second PR!  This was good for 7th place overall female in a field of more than 25,000 runners!

Bertasso

Karen

F29

625

Scotia

NY

USA

106

7

4

1:18:28

0:18:19

0:37:18

0:55:39

1:14:19

06:00

1:18:28

11

83.90 %

Freihofer's 
Saturday, May 30th, 2014

This course has always been a struggle for me.  I have never run well here, which messes with me mentally prior to the race.  I ran 17:59 for 22nd place, which is by far my fastest Frehoifer's ever.

OK 5K
Saturday, June 7th

This race was a little disappointing.  Although I won, and ran a 1 second PR, I did want to run a little faster.  It's totally fine though :)  5k is not my speciality and I had a blast with my teammates after, we even went to the orchard and tasted some apple infused alcohol :)

Adirondack Distance Run (10 miler)
June 22nd, 2014

This race was one I was a little nervous about.  The course is very hilly.  I hate hills.  After Brooklyn Half I thought about doing this race and trying to break 60 minutes.  I went through the 10 mile mark at Brooklyn well under 60 minutes and figured even though this race was hilly, maybe I could do it.  Then I started looking at the history of race results.  In the past 37 years of the race only a few girls (1980's and one in 1997) were capable of running under 60 minutes on this course.  A lot of the  fast women I have looked up to over the years never broke 62 minutes on this course.  Thus, I changed my game plan and decided I would shoot for anything between 61 and 62 minutes.

It was a great day weather wise for the race, which was beneficial for everyone.  I went through the first 5 miles in 30:01.  I thought maybe a sub-60 was still within reach.  Then came the hills going up to mile 8.  I went though mile 8 around 48:14, mile 9 in 54:11, I started to really dig deep.  However, there still seemed to be hills!  I finished in 60:09 for first place.  This was also the 5th fastest time in the history of the event and fastest female time since 1997.  I was happy. :)

We got in some more miles after the race, I took a quick dip in Lake George before the awards ceremony and then we went to brunch.

Week 1 of Marathon Training:
Once again I am working with Coach Mike from Stride Ahead Coaching and will run a fall marathon (Hartford or Chicago).  This week was about building my miles back up since I took a little break after Brooklyn.  I ran 67.5 miles with my long run yesterday of 15.7 miles (averaged 6:47 pace).  Overall I feel good despite 3 long days in the OR last week and my house warming party :)

Spring is Here!

April 17th, 2014.

It has been awhile.  I moved back to NY in the beginning of February, started work, finally started to increase my mileage, started workouts and have ran a few races.  The "altitude advantage" is completely gone and I am very relieved that the times I am running at the moment are strong.  One of my biggest fears upon moving back was that I would slow down significantly after loosing my altitude boost.  The spring race season started off with Running of the Green in mid-March.  After leading the first 3 miles, I came up short in the last mile; clocking 23:11 for 4 miles (5:48 pace, age-graded 83%).

The following weekend was the Syracuse Half Marathon, which was awful.  There was almost an inch of snow on the road that morning and the temperature was mid-teen's with a horrible wind.  Aside from the horrific conditions, I also wore racing flats with no traction, which resulted in a different stride and sore hip flexors.

Next I ran the Delmar Dash 5 miler in 28:58, loosing by 1 second to the woman I lost to at ROTG (6 seconds).  Our pace was the same for the 5 miler as it was for the 4 miler and our age-graded % went up, so overall it was a great time.  Long runs and workouts have been going well.  I ran 17 miles a few weekends ago with my buddy Eamon averaging 6:30 pace.  Something I would have never done at altitude.  Overall, I hope I can continue this pace without breaking down.  I have been a little eager to tackle a marathon this spring/summer as I feel I truly am in the best shape of my life, but I know I should wait.  The temperatures are only going to continue to rise (and I am not good in heat) and my long runs and mileage are still not there for running a marathon PR.  And truthfully, there is no point for me to be racing a marathon again unless I am going to really try to PR.

So what is next?

This weekend I will run the BAA 5k.  I am extremely excited as I haven't raced a 5k at sea level in almost a year.  My 5k split during the 5 miler the other weekend was 17:47, so hopefully I will be faster than that! :)  Although I have mixed emotions going to Boston this weekend, I absolutely love the city.  Last year I went to support a good friend.  Things were messed up at the end and ultimately I went back to the finish area well after we had finished running.  It was at that time when my cell phone died and I decided I had enough.  My friend had left (or we just made a poor post-race plan), I was disappointed and walked to the train station a block away.  It was there when the bombs went off and I heard all the sirens.  I got on one of the last trains to depart the city that day.  By the time I finally made it off the commuter rail and to my car, I plugged in my phone.  I started my drive back to Albany watching the continuous influx of state troopers going in the eastbound direction as I returned numerous phone calls ensuring others I was okay.

April 19th- BAA 5k, Boston MA
April 27th- James Joyce Ramble 10k, Dedham, MA
May 17th- Brooklyn Half Marathon, Brooklyn, NY
May 31st- Freihofer's 5k for Women, Albany, NY

June will likely be a down month in preparation to start marathon training in July with the goal to run sub-2:47 at Chicago in October!

"We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort." 
-Jesse Owens

2014 Goals!

January 25th, 2014

Well I can finally run again and it's been great, despite feeling like I am starting all over again at altitude!  I ran my longest run yesterday since CIM, which was only 10 miles, but a good start, especially since I averaged 6:57 pace.  I feel confident that once I get my legs used to the miles again and start speed work I will be ready to rock out this spring!  So what are the plans?  I am going to race Running of the Green (4 miler) on March 15th.  The following weekend I am running the Syracuse Half Marathon.  I do not anticipate this to be my fastest half marathon, but hopefully a decent run for this early in the season.  The first weekend in April I will run Delmar Dash with the goal of running ~30 seconds faster than last year.  May 17th, is my goal race, Brooklyn Half Marathon, with the hope to run sub 80 minutes.  From there I will take a month relatively relaxed before starting another training cycle in preparation for Chicago Marathon.  We will see how it goes!  I am moving back to NY next weekend, which means I will loose any altitude advantage I gained.  I hope being at sea level will help me run my workouts at a faster pace!  I had my iron levels check last month and they looked great, which is very encouraging.  Maybe I have found my solution to iron deficiency and iron transfusions... Hema Plex!

Happy Running 

See ya 2013!

January 1st, 2014
Reflecting on 2013.
As I sit here on the first day of the new year with ice on my knee and not a single mile to log for the new year, I realize I really cannot complain. 2013 was a fabulous year for me. Prior to moving to Colorado I ran a very disappointing race at Chicago Marathon. I signed up for California International Marathon immediately after and got myself back on the track 10 days later. I ran 800 meter repeats for my first workout back, faster than I had ever run in my life for repeats (2:50-2:53). I knew I was in great shape and I had just completed 8 iron infusions and felt great. That weekend, I got in the car and started the drive out to Colorado. That is when the plantar fascitis started. I got to Colorado, my start date for work got pushed back 2 weeks and I was alone, knew no one and couldn't run! Ug! I decided I wouldn't run CIM and took some time off. January 1st, 2013, I had finally just started running again, but given I was home for Christmas, the whole running at altitude was still new for me. I ran the 5k at Runner's Roost New Year's day, a very slow 20:08 or something like that. I signed up for the Colorado Marathon and started working with a coach. My marathon training was going slow due to frequent, but small set backs with my foot. I had gone to PT, taped, iced, steroid injections, NSAIDs, it was tough. Eventually I got orthotics and I think that made the biggest difference. I decided to go back to the east coast and run New Bedford Half on March 17th. I had no idea if I would finish, run pain free, let alone run well. I ran 1:23:1X, a huge PR. I continued to train for the marathon, but still had no idea if I would be ready to run a race of that distance based off my training. Well I did, and ran another huge PR, 2:59:39. I was thrilled. I took a couple weeks off and then started back with low mileage. I went home for Freihofer's (huge disaster for several reasons) and then a week later ran the OK 5K in 18:15, which was another PR. Fast forward to July, I started my training cycle for my next marathon. We really started to ramp things up and I was doing more races at altitude (which will always be slower), but still managed a 1:24:25 half and 38:10 10k at over 7,000 feet. In September I went back to NY to run a half marathon with the goal of running 1:22. I ended up running 1:21:21 and felt great. I was ready for the marathon and wanted to really run well, my goal was 2:53. Well the marathon backfired on me and I dropped out at mile 20. I had never dropped out of a race in my life, but this was the best decision I ever made. I ended up in the medical tent twice and was unable to keep anything down. I bounced back quickly (I went for a run the next morning) and started to trained again with the goal of running California International in December. On Thanksgiving, I ran the Troy Turkey Trot 10k in 37:10 on a brutally cold and windy day. My knee had started to bother me slightly around this time and being so close to the marathon, I was freaking out. I started doing exercises to strengthen my quads and fix whatever patella tracking issues was going on. Thankfully I made it to the marathon start line healthy.


December 8th, 2013 
California International Marathon

It was cold. The bus ride to the start seemed long and it was dark. Once we arrived, I got off the bus and found my way to the elite tents. It was around 24 degrees and despite the heated tents, it was still cold. As the start of the race approached, girls stripped down to spankies, shorts, bras, tank tops. My god I thought! I got on the start line wearing 3/4 pants, compression socks, a tech t-shirt with my singlet over it, arm warmers, a throw away long sleeve, gloves and a ski band. I questioned my abundance of clothes from the time we had to stand at the start until the gun went off. I was certain I overdressed. I threw away my long sleeve around mile 2. I decided not to place a water bottle at the first fluid station, so I took a cup of water the race was offering to everyone. Ice on the ground under the volunteers handing out water, great. I took the cup, ice? Yes. The water was frozen. The next fluid station my bottle was there, however I missed this. I made the decision, rather late, to turn back around and go get it. At this point there were 2 girls I was running with, one from NYC who wanted to break 2:50 and another girl who wanted to do the same. We ran evenly over the next several miles, I felt relaxed. The hills weren't bad at all. Whatever few extra seconds it took to get up these several little rollers, was made up for on the descents. All I wanted to do was get to the half-way point and start racing. Once I hit mile 13.1, I got into race mode. Maybe a little too much, since I ran a 6:14 for mile 14! But I felt strong over the next 10 miles. I was extremely happy with my outfit later on in the race. I was not too warm at all. My hands, despite gloves and hot hands, were still frozen, which made accessing my gels from my zippered pouch extremely hard. I had difficulty getting the tops of my water bottles as well (note to self, next time use different water bottle tops). Gels were semi-frozen and I was practically chewing them. I still felt great up though mile 23-24. It wasn't even that I felt bad after those miles, but the headwind became a challenge. I hate running in the wind and at that point in the race I didn't have much left to fight it. I tried to tuck in behind some guys, but they took off after several seconds. There were a few turns at the finish as well that I feel cost me a few seconds. It's so easy to actually "see" the finish line and then start to kick vs seeing mile 26 and no finish line. You can't see the finish line until the last 40 feet, which is something I wish I had known because mentally I was waiting until I saw the finish line to kick.  For some reason I had pictured the finish in my head as a long stretch to the capital building. Regardless, I ran 2:50:01. A solid race, evenly ran and felt great. No medical tent. No puking. Once I changed (and had to have some lady help me because my fingers didn't work!) I jogged, yes jogged back to my hotel. It was so cold!

Recovery.
I took some time off, I know, not enough. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I didn't run. Thursday, December 12th, I felt great, it was a nice day, I figured I would try it. I ran 3 easy miles. Harmless right? Friday, I decided to run 4 miles easy again, no big deal. Saturday, we had a women's 3 mile run and yoga, and felt my knee a bit, time for new shoes then right? Sunday, we went skiing. Probably didn't help, the downhill skiing as fast as I could go. Monday, ran 4 miles easy. Tuesday, 5 miles hardish. I had to stop about .25 into my run to stretch because my knee hurt, but I decided to do my run anyway, it practically went away after stretching... well the next morning I went to run and made it the same .25, I stopped and stretched and tried to start again. This time however, there was no way I could run. I walked back. Thursday I took off, I could barely walk down the stairs my knee hurt so bad. Friday, I got in for a massage thinking that would help. Saturday I met some friends in Boulder to run. Ug. Somehow I finish an easy 5 miles with a few stops with them, but that was it. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday no running. Wednesday, Christmas! I had to run right?! I made it 2 miles of running total with lots of walking breaks in between. Not fun. Saturday I purposefully did a walk/run for a few miles. Sunday, surprise, I ran 3 miles on the treadmill at a 2% incline with no "sharp" pain. Great, Monday, couldn't do anything. So now I sit here writing this, realizing how I didn't really "rest" after and this is probably a good day to not run. 2014.

Since the marathon I have really struggled with the concept of moving back home. 7 more minutes to make trials and I am leaving elevation now?! I can't base my entire life off of running, although that would be nice, but I do wonder if I should have waited another year before moving back. No matter where I am this year my goals will be to stay healthy, train hard, have fun and keep striving for PR's.

California International Marathon. Garmin Connect - Details

Untitled by kbertasso at Garmin Connect - Details What a day! I knew it wasn't my day at MHM and I made a smart decision to stop, but waiting another 6 weeks, training alone, through daylight savings, shorter days and cold was rough! But I stuck it out and came back to train during those 6 weeks hard. I never got my mileage back up into the 80's, but did a mini reverse taper after MHM and got back up to 73-74 miles about 4 weeks out from CIM. I ran the Troy Turkey Troy 10 days out from CIM and that helped boost my confidence a bit. Weeks prior to TTT my goal was to run sub 37. As the race approach, the forecast changed my goal pretty significantly. 20 mph winds were predicted with a high of 21, real feel of 8. Not really ideal for a 10k. After seeing that forecast I just wanted to run close to 38 minutes. I ended up running 37:10 for second place, which was better than I had anticipated given the cold and windy conditions. From there I tapered. My knee started to bother me and I pretty much freaked out the week before the marathon. I added some additional exercises for my knee and made it to the start line pretty confident. Sunday, December 8th, 2013… to be continued!

Somedays you got it, Somedays you don't....

Okay, so I can finally write this.

Sunday, October 13. 2013
Mohawk Hudson Marathon:

Before I reflect about what went wrong, what I did wrong, I will just start from the beginning.

I woke up that morning in plenty of time to eat breakfast, foam roll and get everything together.  My dad drove Abby and me to the start around 7:30 a.m.  As we got out of the car, the thermostat read 57 degrees.... When we got there, we dropped our bags and went on a light warm-up to get things moving and find a bathroom.  I ended up stealing a roll of TP from the ARE van thanks to John because surprise, the line for the port-a-potties was ridiculous.  At the start line, I spotted out the girl NOT to follow, knowing she would go out super fast.  Abby's plan, which was a 1:26 first half was similar to mine so we planned to run the first half together.  With us, was Nicole Blood, who had never run a marathon. It seemed easy, we chatted for the first 8 miles and didn't think anything of it.  However, it was too fast.  NONE of us were going to run anything close to even splits and I knew by mile 7 the damage was already done.

Just after mile 8

I took a lot of water, 2 cups of each station, one to drink, the other to throw over my head.  We went through the 10k in 39-mid.  Too fast.  I never took a gatorade, why would I need to I had gel.  I took my gel as planned at mile 6 and 11.  Around mile 10 Nicole took the lead, taking off in 6:15 pace... I was not going with her.  I stayed back, Abby eventually decided to go around mile 11.  Mile 12 I knew, this was going to suck.  I was now by myself and had gone out too fast.  I tried to slow down once Abby passed thinking this would help me.  Nope, it hurt me, my hips tightened up terribly.  As I was making it up the hill to mile 13, I realized how hot I was and how heavy my singlet felt, I threw it off to my friend, Jess.  Mile 14, I saw my parents.  As soon as I passed them I kept thinking I should have threw in the towel there, my legs are so tight.  I kept trucking... I had no choice.  At one point I thought it wasn't so bad, I was still running well under 7's and I was almost to mile 16... oh wait that was just the mile 15 mark.  That was a huge bummer.  I finally did get to mile 16, where I was scheduled for my next gel.  I couldn't stomach it.  I opened it and babied over the next mile.  Coming up to the train tracks I hoped to get in a mile around 6:40 with the downhill, but unfortunately I was about 12 seconds slower.  This wasn't going good.  Miles 18-20 were endless.  I started to become absolutely drained, I felt like I was dead, my stomach was hurting and I was done mentally and physically.  I just didn't feel right and honestly didn't think I would finish.  My parents were at mile 20, which I knew, and there they were, I could finally see them in the distance.  My mom was ready with a change of shoes in case I needed them (I still have issues with my right foot) and a gel.  I looked at them and just said I was done, stepping off the course.  They were shocked.  Never once in my life had they seen me quit anything, especially something I was so prepared and ready for.  Something I had dedicated the past several months to, training harder than ever before, running my fastest times ever leading up to this race, and logging the most miles in my life.  I was done.  I quit.  I was at 2 hours and 14 minutes, the exact same time I was at during my last marathon at mile 20, the difference, I wanted to be at 2:10 by mile 20 for this marathon and I felt awful...  I was totally okay with it at the time and had no idea why.  I sat down for awhile, noticed my bloody shoe, and eventually decided to get up and head to the finish line.  I looked down the road and noticed that I saw Crystal's singlet in the distance.  I grabbed a water, my mother saved for me at this point, and ran it to her.  I was moving.  I was seeing straight.  I was okay.  I could have jumped back in the race and ran to the finish with her, but it never crossed my mind at the time because all I knew was that I was done and had dropped out.  I got in the car, changed into dry clothes and we drove to the finish line.  When I got there, Mike, who finished second, started asking me what was going on and telling me about his race.  It was then when I started to fade and realized I couldn't stand there anymore.  I made my way to the final stretch and found myself on the grass... and then I puked.  I then found a couple friends and Kristina, who knows better and was thinking much clearer than I, told me I needed to get in some calories and went to get me gatorade.  I puked again.  I tried to sip the gatorade, but just couldn't.  She made the executive decision that I should go to the medical tent.  I didn't think I needed to, but agreed because she was so stern on the matter.  As I stood up, she held me tightly, I remember thinking, why is she holding me so tight, then all of a sudden, everything... BLACK.  I could hear, I could hear my mom approach us, I remember seeing Drew, maybe he was there before it went black, but they got me in the med tent.  After spending sometime there and getting some fluids, they let me leave.  I made it to my parents and went over to the grass.  And then, puke x 3...or 4... I don't know.  It was bad.  I didn't care to find a garbage, I just started puking in the middle of everyone.  Abby reminded me I still hadn't gotten my bag that I checked at the start of the race.  She helped me over (she was the one that actually finished the marathon) and we got our bags.  A few feet later, uncontrollable vomiting.  She took my stuff, I just wanted to go home.  We made it over close to my parents, when again I puked, for some reason this time I went for the garbage.  My friend, Dave, who had already witnessed my prior vomiting episodes looked at me and said "back to the med tent".  He walked me over.  This time they desperately tried to get an IV in me, every time they got a flash, the vein collapsed.  I took some Zofran and laid down.  I couldn't stomach anything.  Awhile later, I finally convinced Todd (the race medical director) to let me leave.  I promised I wouldn't return!  My dad had already left to bring Abby to our house and my mom was waiting for me outside the tent.  We walked over to the parking lot, where I sat in the shade until my dad got there.

Bloody shoe!

The next morning.  I was pissed.  Why did I let them dictate my race, why did I go out so fast, it doesn't matter how easy it felt, 6:20 pace is too fast for me!  Why did I continue to have stomach issues, and why do I always get hyponatremia during MHM?!?  2 years ago a similar situation occurred where I overdid the water and couldn't form any salvia afterwards to swallow a thing, my pulse crossing the finish line, 60.

I went out for a 2 mile run and changed my mind.  When I dropped out the day before I told my parents, I had done enough marathons, I really like the half, I wasn't upset, I had a great year, I didn't need another marathon for awhile.  Well I impulsively changed my Houston half entry to the full a few hours later.  Then the next day when I realized I qualified for the elite field at California International Marathon with my half marathon time, I signed up for that.  So now what?!!?!?

CIM December 8th.

I have been ridiculously sick with a cold/URI this past week and a half, which hasn't made training fun.   I had an endoscopy last week and a biopsy confirmed that I don't have Celiac's disease and can eat all the bread I want!  However, this doesn't help answer my iron issues...

 Regardless of what happens at CIM I will finish.  Even if it means I say screw the 2:53 dream for  2013 and even if that means I don't run a PR!  I will run my race as planned and not go out too fast.  I am going back to my original gel I used for my last marathon (sorry honey stinger) and taking gatorade if I need to, which means I will practice with some fluid other than water during my long runs leading up to CIM.  My friends are done marathoning and it is getting dark and colder out, so it is hard, but hopefully with the NYC marathon this weekend, I will find it very motivating!!!

The Final Countdown

Friday, October 11th- Less than two days!  There is no two ways about it, taper sucks.  You start to question everything.  I flew into NY on Tuesday and for the first time the flights were rather uneventful.  I met up with some ARE members to run Tuesday after I got in.  Wednesday morning I went to mile 8 on the marathon course and did my last "workout".  It didn't feel the greatest, but it wasn't terrible either (as it shouldn't be) considering it was very easy.  I did a 2+ warm up, with 15 minutes at 6:30 pace, then a 2 mile cool down.  Thursday I only ran 2.5 miles.  Unfortunately I was planning on running more, but by the time I woke up and did what I needed to do I only had 20 minutes before I had to get in the shower and get moving.  I always schedule way too much when I am home and end up running around from place to place instead of just relaxing.  Anyway, I doubt the 2.5 miles verses 4 miles I wanted to do really makes a difference.  Friday I took off even though my coach had me scheduled to run.  I always take 2 days before a marathon off and I hadn't taken a day off in over a month.  Although now I am scared I dropped too much this week because my legs feel heavy.  4 weeks ago I was coming off Palio Half Marathon so we kept the mileage low at 65 so I could recover.  3 weeks ago I went up to 72 miles, last week (2 weeks out) I dropped to 52, then this week will essentially be at only 22 before the race.  The thing I am worried about most is my arm.  For some reason my left upper arm and scapula have been giving me issues.  I usually don't notice it until after 18 miles when I am running though, but when it does come on it is a sharp, stabbing pain.  The plan is to wear a bengay patch on my arm to try to prevent that from happening.  Ah!

This year has probably the most talented women's field ever entered in the marathon.  For some reason since I didn't care to enter as an elite (the marathon doesn't offer anything aside for free entry for elite marathoners anyway) I didn't get a seeded bib number.  I was honestly upset considering it was my hometown race and the majority of runners that did enter as elite haven't qualified for the standard, which was sub-3:00 marathon.  There are a few girls who have not even run a marathon at all let alone a half marathon.  So basically they submitted 10k, 10 mile times.  Regardless it's my hometown race and I am not seeded.  Which is OK, but to top it off I get bib number 69, really?  UG!  Some races purposely eliminate numbers 13 and 666, well I think number 69 should be included in that exception.

Here are some reasons why I think I will be running much faster at MHM than at Colorado Marathon:
1.  Altitude.  Duh.  The last half of Colorado is relatively flat and that alone is going to contribute about 10 seconds faster per mile.
2.  The course.  The downhill first half of Colorado is kind of like the downhill at Boston, your legs feel destroyed at the end of that portion!  My legs were screaming at me.
3.  Training.  I have significantly increased my miles for this marathon, my speed work and long runs have all been significantly faster.
4.  Healthier.  Last marathon, I didn't know about 6 weeks out if I was still going to run the full or have to drop to the half.  My plantar fascitis was still a big issue.  Luckily, my body has felt much healthier this time around.
5.  Support!  The first time we saw any spectators at the Colorado Marathon was around mile 17!  That is a long way to run before people start cheering you on!  This race will be filled with local support and my parents will be at miles 3, 8, 13-14, 19 and the finish!

So now what?  Sleep well tonight.  Breakfast in the morning, followed by a shakeout run and the expo.  My plan is to go out in 1:25:30 and not let anyone else in the race influence that.  I'm running to run 2:53, and then to try to win.  2:53 is first.  I'm not about to go out too fast so I can stay with the leader in contention for first place only to fall apart so I don't 1- win, and 2- run 2:53.  I do know the girl that is entered with the fastest marathon time (2:52) ran an eight minute positive split when she did that.... that does NOT sound fun!  Time to see what these legs have left in them after all this training!