Hi!
There are just two words to describe training this week…itchy and scratchy. After a dry summer, recent rains have caused a plethora of mosquitoes. This week I felt like I was a human pincushion. In addition, I ran into some – correction, a lot – of poison ivy while cleaning a fencerow Labor Day. My arms, legs, neck, and even face got it. Never weed whack vines in short pants. Never swat mosquitoes or wipe sweat off your face while pulling vines. D’oh! I’m not the brightest light bulb in the marquee. The poison ivy was bad enough I had to go to the doctor to get a steroid shot and pills. I’m hoping the Chicago Marathon doesn’t do random drug tests past 10,000th place. The doc says they’re not performance-enhancing steroids. I don’t think it matters. There are not enough performance-enhancing steroids in the world for the Kenyans to have to worry about me.
All in all it was a good week runningwise. Tuesday my pace was slower than I wanted, but I hadn’t taken a rest day in a while. Saturday, I found out my Polar wasn’t calibrated right since getting new shoes. I thought I had done 18.75 at a sub-10:00 pace but route-mapping web sites said the true distance was only 17.8. Psyche job. Bummer.
While running a backcountry road Saturday, I saw 11 peacocks wandering around a farmer’s front lawn. I’ve seen them at the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo (annually voted one of the best zoos in the U.S.), but I don’t think wild peacocks are native to this area. Maybe he keeps them as pets.
I received my Chicago Marathon confirmation book in the mail Saturday. Now that I have a small stomach, one would think I’d have less butterflies. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. I’ve read the book from cover to cover and am starting to think through my Sunday morning itinerary. I am developing my race nutrition/hydration plan. I’m planning on carrying gel packs with me to take one every three- four miles. The trick is to know where the water stops are in order to wash down the gels. The aid stations are spaced about 2.5 miles apart between miles 3 and 11 and about a mile apart from mile 21 to the end. That’s quite a difference. But after 30 years of doing this, I’m sure the race directors have set it up this way for a reason. (Editor note on October 17 - I wonder if they will rethink the aid station spacing after what happened this year)
This week is the final high mileage week before tapering begins. Give it your best shot – I will be giving it mine.
One step at a time,
Dave
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