red's marathon time goal...

Taper time means blog posts are few and far between.

I still don't have my Runner's World mag.

I had a bit of a learning experience the other day. I'm glad it happened yesterday and not during the last run before the marathon. I went out for an easy 5-miler. My left shin felt tight right from the get-go, but I kept going expecting it to loosen up during my first slow mile. It didn't. After a mile and a half, I realized I HAD to stop and stretch it out. I was a little nervous about it. I'd never had tight shins before. I was afraid it might be a new injury developing. However, after 5 minutes or so of stretching my shin and then a short walk, it was back to normal and I finished my run with no problems. So, I'll be a little paranoid about my shin for the next few easy runs before the race. We'll see how it feels after tomorrow's run. At least now I know what to do.

As an added bonus, I could tell I'm finally starting to get used to the warmer weather. Adaptation is occurring. :-)

The other news is I've set a goal for my marathon. I know! I know! I wasn't going to set any goals for my first one. I was very adamant about NOT setting a goal, in fact. At least, not a specific time goal. My "goal" was to finish strong and enjoy the experience. Well, my training has been going so well that I broke down and set a specific goal. Two goals really. Well, two goals wrapped into one:

1. Finish in under 3:35
2. Doing so will send me to BOSTON!!!! (with 10 minutes to spare)

10 days to go!!!