Vermont City Marathon (#7)~ RUNdown & Prep

It's 10 days until the Vermont City Marathon in Burlington, VT. MB and CB (and CB's friend, Hillary) will be joining me for the run. I've posted the Race RUNdown as well as my prep for the remaining week and a half before the race...

The RUNdown...

Date: May 24th, 2009... 8am

Years RUNning: This is the 21st Running of Vermont City

Registration Limit: 3,600

2008 Finishers: 2,379 (2,488 Registered)

Avg. Temps 48 in the am, 71 at noon

Current Forecast: None available. Fri/Sat before the race... SHOWERS :( (will update***)

Course/Elevation:

I've posted the elevation below. I've heard rumors of some infamous hill at 18 but I don't see one... Maybe they mean 19??? Mile 15 looks like a bag full of Joy...

Marathon Maniacs:

Upon completion of this race, I will finally be completing one of the criteria to be an official "Marathon Maniac." Nowww I've been called crazy about running my marathons but I'll now be certified!!! To become a certified "Maniac" you need to complete different sets of criteria that put you under different levels... for Example, I will be completing 3 marathons in less than 3 months, so I will be on the lowest tier- Bronze Level. In October, I hope to jump alllll the way up to Iridium Level but doing 2 marathons back to back in the same weekend. That's 52.4 Miles in 1 weekend! Yikes, but funnnn!!!

I've posted a "Marathon Maniac Goal" Listing on the side bar for future reference... this should make things more interesting.

Race Prep:

~Lessons Learned... I've learned over the past 3 marathons that sometimes the conditions are just not meant for a Boston Qualifying run. In fact, in Nashville I stupidly still tried in the 85 degree heat. After looking at the results I came to find out NOBODY in my age group ran fast enough for qualifying pace. Sooo lessons learned... I've taken a new approach to training. I'm going to continue with speed work once a week, do a fast-paced run once a week and do a slower, hilly run once a week. Goal: always be prepared in case the conditions are right, then decide on race day.

~My Race Plan...I've heard good things about this race. It's supposed to be hilly, but scenic. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this but I don't actually remember most of the marathons I've run. For some reason, shortly after, I tend to black out most of the race. This is probably a good thing because I can't remember how much it hurt. However, its unfortunate because these "scenic" races mean very little to me. *Sigh*. With that said, for Vermont I have 2 options... Try for Boston, or run with CB and try to get around a 3:50 (her goal). This will be a race-day decision depending on the weather and how I feel.

~Training... My last marathon will have been 4 weeks before this one. I did 1 last long run (the flying pig half) on May 3rd (1 week after Nashville). I've been trying to do a couple tempo runs, a a couple rounds of speed work. I'll try and do 1 more speed work session between now and Sunday then I will taper... 3-4 miles easy at max. I'll probably only run 2-3 times next week and focus on stretching and hydration!!!