I had a good training walk, doing 6.38 miles in 83 minutes. No, that’s certainly not fast (13.01 minute/mile) but it was comfortable. I was doing some daydreaming and my feet were on “automatic”. And I was daydreaming about how it was going to feel next Sunday, when at 7 in the morning, myself and 14,000 others would start the 35th running of the Portland Marathon. I’ve checked the weather and the forecast is for 70 and partly cloudy. Lovely!
Last year, it had rained the night before but it turned out to be a warm day for us. And I remembered last years starting miles…I think it was right around mile 2 that we were forced into a construction detour. The course narrowed down and pretty soon we were faced with large puddles of rainwater and a muddy path alongside a fence. Of course no one wanted to get their shoes wet this early in the race and so people were skirting the puddles and then getting all jammed up near a narrow gate; where only about 6 or 7 people could pass through at a time. My time for the first few miles averaged 17 minute/miles…a crawl!
And I must note that I won’t have my partner with me for this race. Bummer! She keeps me focused on my speed and now I will have to do some fancy mental exercises to remedy that loss. I must make sure that I target an individual and then try to slowly overtake and pass them. Then pick another. I just have to keep doing that until I see the finish line. Last year we got our biggest mental boost by accelerating up the hill towards the St. Johns Bridge; passing the competition, left and right. I want to do that again!
I read that there is going to be a racewalking division this year, but I’m not enrolling in it. Judged racewalks are not my cup of tea. Of course I will be racewalking… but I will be my own judge, thank you.
Weight 195.3 (Darn cookies!) BP 128/60 Pulse 64
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