This is the year...continued...

Go. Kick. Ass. Look forward to seeing your results - you have sure put the work in to get there!

@John Kilpatrick wrote:Go. Kick. Ass. Look forward to seeing your results - you have sure put the work in to get there!

What John said ^.

Yep! Your training has been great, you're going to do so awesomely well!

10/3 -

Cross training

At the gym tonight working on some core exercises and I rode the bike for 30 minutes. It's weird, but I have not suffered from any of the Taper Madness symptoms that I normally have in the past. I have been cool, calm, and collected over the last 2 plus weeks. Of course, there are still a little over 5 days until race day.

Nick, when are you heading out east?

@JohnP wrote:Nick, when are you heading out east?

The flight leaves Friday morning and I get into Scranton at around 3:30. I plan on driving the course Saturday morning and then hitting up the expo in the afternoon. Running the race on Sunday and heading back home on Monday.

10/4 -

3 miles

Just an easy 5k tonight. It was pretty nice this evening, with the sun shining and temps around 70. I completed an easy 3.10 miles at a 7:15 pace. Today I started my carb intake which will hopefully get the glycogen storage at MAX. It's almost go time...

You're going to do great! I hope the weather is OK for it.

Good luck in the race Nick. I think you'll have a great time.

Enjoy the carb-loading, Nick! I hope you have a great race this weekend.

Race smart and hard, captain. Beat Jim. I think finally I have my break through in my form that I can beat Schuey in the fantasy point, not the time heehee, now that he needs to carry Chris.

Good luck, Nick!

Thanks everyone for the well wishes...I'll do my best...

10/5 -

8 miles w/ 4 @ MP

So, I took some peer advice from Martin and decided to run 8 miles tonight with 4 at MP. One last MP run to let my body know exactly what I am going to be putting it through. I used the first two miles to warm up and then the middle four were at pace, followed by a final two for cool down. Unlike Chris, I was able to stick pretty close to my goal pace of 7:03. Mile 3 @ 7:01, Mile 4 @7:01, Mile 5 @ 6:58, and Mile 6 @ 6:59. It is going to be key for me to stay at pace and not try to push it in the early stages of the race. Especially since the first eight miles have a pretty steep decline. If not, my quads are gonna be shredded by mile 17.

Overall I ran 8.13 miles @ a 7:15 pace...two easy miles tomorrow, an off day/travel day on Friday, two easy miles on Saturday morning to get the blood flowing, and then race day on Sunday...

THis is the year, Nick. Sounds like you are as prepared as can be. Good luck on Sunday!

Go get em Nick, best of luck!

Hope all goes well this weekend Nick, and that you are able to put it all together for a great race day and experience!

Thanks John, Tim, and Jon!!

10/6 -

2 miles

Two easy miles tonight. So easy that I barely broke a sweat (I probably wouldn't have if it wasn't 78 degrees). No watch for this run. Just me and the pavement. I put in enough to get the blood flowing...Travel day tomorrow!!

Hope the travel goes smoothly for you today Nick.

Good luck Sunday, and don't be afraid to drop the hammer in the second half of the race and go sub 3:00!

10/7 -

Travel day

Today is a travel day as I head on out to Pennsylvania. Currently, I am stuck on a layover in Newark...Hopefully, I'll be leaving shortly for the short puddle jump to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre...

@mul21 wrote:Hope the travel goes smoothly for you today Nick.

Good luck Sunday, and don't be afraid to drop the hammer in the second half of the race and go sub 3:00!

Thanks Jim,

I am just hoping that the hammer is there to go sub 3:05...Have fun in Chicago!! Say hi to the Schumachers, Mr. Strubbe, and the rest for me

run Nick, run! You will do great!

10/8 -

Couple of miles (easy)

This morning I decided to run a couple miles along the "rails to trails" portion of the race course. This way I was able to get a feel for what the trails portion would be like. I ran almost 3 miles (2.87 miles) at an easy 7:56 pace.

After getting in a short run, I wanted to drive the entire course. So, I started at the start and followed along the 26.2 mile course (they give some good directions online). The course is definitely downhill, but most of the end is slightly uphill with two large uphills at 23 and 25. The uphills will definitely test me, because of their location on the course. If they would be at the beginning, there wouldn't be a problem...

So now it is time to go get my race packet and rest up...8am start tomorrow morning

Race is complete!!! Unofficial results 3:13:31...I'll post a report later