Listen To My Heart

I'm in the living room at my suite in Two Harbors, MN. It's almost 9PM and Grandma's marathon starts tomorrow at 7:30AM. My family will be getting up at 3:30AM to drive to Duluth, get on a tourist train that will take them back to Two Harbors to see the start of the race. The train will then follow the runners to the finish line. I'll take a shuttle bus from the Superior Shores Resort to the starting line. The shuttle doesn't leave until 6:10AM I get to sleep in. Ha ha.

The temperature is already very cool. At race time it should be in the 50s, near perfect temperature for running. Temperature and humidity have a big impact on a runner's speed. Tomorrow should be a good day for a fast race. When I ran my 8 mile run last weekend I was surprised at my average pace, about 9:00/mile. That's fast enough to finish Grandma's under 4 hours, which has been a big goal of mine. However, I need to be careful and not get too greedy. I was never planning on doing Grandma's under 4 hours, I just wanted to complete the race. If I start out too fast, I'll have a poor finish and poor time. Adrenaline from the excitement will make it difficult for me to feel excessive speed. So my strategy is to listen to my heart.

I'll be wearing a heart rate monitor. My heart rate will be the best indication of a good running pace. For the start of the race I need to keep my heart rate in the mid 150s, then let it slowing climb to about 160 to 162 up to mile 20. After mile 20 I think I can finish the last 6.2 miles letting by heart rate approach 170. If I do this I should have a good finish time. It should be under 4:26 based on my long runs. How much better than 4:24, I don't know. I'm not going to shoot for a time. I'm going to listen to my heart and take what it gives me.