Friday, April 18, 2008

boston goals and thoughts

First, my last two pre-race workouts:

Friday 4.2 miles/39:22/9:22 average pace

This morning Maritza drove down to my house and along with Zach we went off for a nice run on the Iron Horse Trail. It was a beautiful morning and we had the whole trail practically to ourselves. There were a ton of those little bugs though- I got one in my eye and Maritza swallowed one. :D It was wonderful to run with her though- it's been a while. She always gives me the best pre-race encouragement and she even brought me a good-luck care package! She's the bestest! :)

Yesterday morning I went to the pool with Zach and swam 1000 m. I didn't have my watch but I know I swam slowly, I just took it easy and was day dreaming/thinking/planning about Boston. It was very relaxing.

Last night Zach and I did a ton of laundry and all the chores around the house in preparation for being gone (nothing worse than coming home to a dirty house) All we have left to do is pack and yes, I have detailed lists ready to go. And yes, I made those lists about a month ago.

The weather is looking very good for Marathon Monday- weather.com has cloudy skies, high of 58 degrees, slight breeze, and a 20% chance of rain. Perfect! I don't even mind the drizzle. As long as we don't have the torrential rain and wind of last year, or a super hot day, I will be happy. But this is looking, as Zach said, like PR weather. :O

So, do I think I will set a PR at Boston? Ha ha, no. Unlikely. But I do think I will do well and I KNOW I will have a blast no matter what. Here are my goals from my "A" Optimistic everything-goes-perfect goal to "C" wheels-fall-off-just-finish-with-dignity goal.

A: 3:40 - BQ (technically 3:40:59 is qualifying time)

B: um, close to that as possible

C: 3:55:00 or better - my time last year was 3:55:18 and was my slowest marathon ever. So I'd like to beat that time, setting a "Course Record" which in this case is the same as "don't run the slowest marathon of my life"

Secret Dream Goal: 3:36:47 or better - PR

No Matter What Goal: HAVE FUN, give high fives, smile like an idiot the whole time, enjoy the experience.

You can track me online at www.baa.org I am Bib # 14709. I will post as soon as I can after the race- possibly from Boston, if not I will have my race report up by Friday (we get home Wednesday night).

Go Sharks.

36 comments:

Bob - BlogMYruns.com said...

Have a great race Jen, I will be folowing along from FL

YOU are READY !!! Rock ON!!

Petraruns said...

Have a great race Jen - I'm going to sign up now to follow your progress (and can't wait to hear the full report over breakfast on Thursday!)

Anonymous said...

I know you'll have a wonderful race & your time will be great. Have fun & keep on smiling. We'll be thinking of you.

Dragonfly on the water...

KK said...

Good Luck! I hope you accomplish your secret dream goal :). But regardless, it will be sooo fun!

And the weather is looking good, yay!

Debbie said...

Good Luck Jen!! You are going to do great!! Have a wonderful time in Boston!!!

Judi said...

Jen - Let's make a bet - I bet that you beat 3:55 EASILY - I say you come in more around 3:35. I hope I am right. :)

Have a blast, race hard, and ENJOY!

21stCenturyMom said...

Good Luck Jen! Sounds like worst case you will have a ton of fun and that's a really good worst case scenario.

21stCenturyMom said...

But I'm thinking that will all of your training you will more than have a ton of fun - you'll literally have a great time! Enjoy!

Marathon Maritza said...

Whoo-hoo! Have a great time!

I'm so glad I got a chance to see you before you left...it was totally worth swallowing a gross bug!

Unknown said...

If nothing else, it sure looks like better weather than that what you had last year.

Good luck and have fun. Are you going to check out the Woman's Trials on Sunday?

Ewen said...

"Go Sharks" (who are the sharks?), "Go Jen!"

Here's to the SDG! Have fun :)

Ryan said...

Jen, go get it!! I'm sorry I won't be there with you celebrating during this run, but I will be tracking you. Have a great run and even better experience taking in all the fanfare and sightseeing. Best of luck!

Phil said...

Have a great race Jen. Best of luck on Monday. We'll all be following along and cheering you through every mile.

Gotta Run..... said...

So is it a secret if you share it :)

No matter the outcome you will love every minute of the event nothing you have put a lot of hard work into it!!

Cheers!!!

I will be tracking you.

SavvyFitChica said...

I love your "No matter what goal"... that's so important and I'm glad you're keeping that perspective w/ the whole event. I wish you the best of luck. You're going to do awesome! I can't wait to check back and hear how you do!

Kelsalynn

miss petite america said...

girl! kick ass and have fun!

Danielle said...

Good luck Jen! You are going to do awesome!!

Arcane said...

Good luck tomorrow!

Tomas said...

Wow..... go for it!!! Have a blast and look forward to read the 3:40 race report :)

jahowie said...

I just tuned into the site to track your progress. Good luck!!

Gotta Run..... said...

YOU ROCKED IT!!! 3:44 is a AWESOME time!!! I tracked ya the whole way... right along with Lance Armstrong :)

looking forward to the race details.

21stCenturyMom said...

3:44 - a tweener with respect to goals but a great race by any standard.

Congratulations!

I hope you had fun.

Ryan said...

Congrats on a great time, Jen!! I cheered you on from my desk! Tracking the splits was fun. I kept hitting refresh hoping a new update would be published. Hope you are recovering and celebrating nicely!

Steve Stenzel said...

I just checked the times! Nice job!!! WAY TO GO!!!

Bob - BlogMYruns.com said...

WOOO HOOO Jen, 3:44 with all that excitement & crowds to deal with is SO Awesome...

BIG CONGRATS CHICA :-) Look forward to ur report & pics!!

Phil said...

Congratulations Jen ... great time! Fantastic year over year improvement.

Ewen said...

Well done Jen! Looking forward to all the gory details, and photos :)

Unknown said...

Congrats on your race and time, looking forward to reading about the experience and seeing pictures.

Shawn

Debbie said...

Way to go Jen!! Great race!!

The 311 Boys Mom said...

i checked & you did awesome!!!

3:44:56

great job

21stCenturyMom said...

You met Ralph! What a great small world story.

Congratulations again on your race.

Arcane said...

Hope you had a blast! Looking forward to the report.

Danielle said...

You rocked it out girl! I can't wait until you return to hear all about it!
Oh, and did you see the Shark's win last night??? :)

Kelly said...

Congratulations on Boston. I was cheering you on from Omaha! Whoo hoo. Enjoy your rest.

Judi said...

Still waiting for a race report missy. :)

Aron said...

congrats on such a great race!!! patiently waiting to read all about it :)