Oy, what a day!

This was not a great day.

While I was only mildly hoarse during the day on Friday and about the same yesterday, by this morning my voice was truly shot. Bad enough sounding while talking in a normal tone of voice, but I couldn't even sing at all without sounding as horrible as Carlotta from "Phantom of the Opera" when her voice turned into a toad's. Oy!

Then my run this morning couldn't have gone too much worse. (A bit, surely.) First, after finishing 9 miles, my legs were feeling a bit tired, so I pulled back to a walk for two minutes before bringing it back to speed. Then after 2 more miles, apparently the peanut butter that I had eaten yesterday finally kicked in. By the time I got back from the restroom and was only on the treadmill for another 1/2 mile, I had a nasty stitch in my right side. So, I dropped to a walk to finish out that mile before trying to get to speed again. NG - it wasn't happening; I couldn't get rid of the stitch. So, another 4 miles merely walking to finish out my planned 16 miles. And, wouldn't you know it, by the time I was a little over 1 mile into those last 4, the socks I was wearing (different than I normally wear for my long runs, since I was dealing with healing up a blister on one of my toes, so couldn't use the toe socks) rode low, and my sneakers dug into the back of my heal -- DAMN that hurts. So, after adjusting the sock a little bit, I dropped the pace a touch more for the remainder of the time.

Talk about a dreadful training run. Only one more long run in the taper before Mesa, and at that it will only be 13.1.

Has my training gone well enough to hit the times that I want? 3:16 or better for a sufficient BQ (since I'm predicting BQ-9:00 will be needed for 2025), and under 3:14 for NY Qualifying time for 2025. 

Empirically, it looks like the answer should be "no." But we'll see. The conditions may be favorable enough that I can manage it. If only they had a 3:15 pacer. Unfortunately, their pacers are on either side of that time: 3:10 and 3:20. If only I thought BQ-6:00 would do it, I'd go out with the 3:20 pacer and then just properly time my breakaway. But trying to get 6 minutes ahead of the pacer, spread out so that it's not a huge difference in my pace, would require breaking away just after the half and dropping 30 seconds per mile for the rest. Doing that much of a negative split is highly unlikely.

Woo-hoo! It's official!

Marathon Pour Tous finally sent out the e-mail to the 40,048 people who have been granted a bib (no cost -- wow!) to run the race in August. I think half of these people will be running in the marathon, and the other half will be running the 10k being held simultaneously. It's in the evening on the same course that the men (earlier that day) and women (the next morning) elites will be running for the Summer Olympics.

Only a few major things left to do, now:

Get a medical certificate to participate

Get my round-trip flight

Figure out what my itinerary will be during my time in country.

Sweet! This will be my first time in France. Looking forward to it!

New Challenge

Recently, the Armed Forces Series Challenge was just announced. The races that comprise the challenge:

Coast Guard Marathon

Air Force Marathon

Army Ten-Miler

Marine Corps Marathon (note: not the 50k)

Space Force T-Minus 10-Miler

It's not necessary to finish them all within the same year, but prior runnings of any of these don't count. So, I don't have credit for the one ATM and the many MCMs that I've run. 

They're scheduled well enough that I will pursue this challenge in this inaugural year. Should be interesting. And the Space Force race is the same weekend as the Palm Cities Marathon, which I just might be a pacer for - big weekend!

Come on and join in, at least for some of the races, even if not all of them.

High HR?

So, what's your high-end HR during your hardest efforts while running? For me, I've hit the 180s, and occasionally (according to Garmin) about 200 -- though I tend to doubt the latter. That seems to pop when the beginning HR being "seen" is overly (and incorrectly) high for some reason, and then just rises from there.

Well, last month during my trip to New York with a friend, we went to City Climb. Alas, we were required to place not only articles from our pockets into a locker, but our watches, as well, even though they were fully secured on our wrists. Shame, because I really wanted some more "official" way of determining my HR when it was my turn to lean over the edge of the building. Horrifying but exhilarating experience.

Looking back, and looking forward

New Year's Eve. I haven't been nearly as regular at blogging as I'd really like to be, but I want to do something more than merely recount each day's workout - that's neither interesting to write nor read, most of the time. We'll see if I can get a bit more regular in 2024.

That said, what did 2023 hold:

10 Marathons:

Dopey Challenge (7:27:07 - ALL of the marathon shenanigans with Laura, Robert, and Jacque; great way to finish out my Perfect Dopey record with the 10th Dopey)

Mesa Marathon (3:15:53 BQ for 2024)

Combos Marathon (3:38:00 -- 3:35 pacer, followed the wrong turn, so ran an extra 1/2 mile, ugh!)

Boston Marathon (3:32:08)

Sydney Marathon (3:54:50 -- terribly hot, very hilly course)

Chicago Marathon (3:21:31 BQ for 2025 -- but surely not a good enough one to use)

Atlantic City Marathon (4:19:53 -- 4:20 pacer)

Marine Corps Marathon 50k (5:29:59 -- 5:30 pacer, VERY hot day)

New York City Marathon (3:42:22)

Dismal Swamp Marathon -- my 70th marathon! (3:52:57 -- lived up to its name with the high heat and humidity; so much for getting a good BQ for 2025, let alone a NY qualifying time for 2024)

Currently, I only have 4 marathons on my schedule:

Mesa Marathon (need to use this for a viable 2025 BQ!)

Boston Marathon (if I can get through the need background check, etc., hopefully I will be able to be an Achilles guide)

Paris Marathon (so long as I actually get the e-mail needed for registering in < 3 weeks)

Marine Corps Marathon (need to choose whether I'll be pacing the marathon or the 50k)

Looking forward to signing up for additional pacing and/or guide gigs during the year.