Ready for Saint Louis Marathon 2017

Well, I am as ready as I can be.  Tapering time. Now, I need to feed myself well and get lots of rest. The idea is to follow the 3:40 pace group for the first half of the marathon, and then, join Jeff and run the second half a little bit faster, hopefully.
Running along with Jeff will make all the difference.

Two Weeks before Saint Louis Marathon

Ran nine mile this morning with the Run319 group. Jeff and I ran slightly faster. I was surprised to see that we ran at 8:18 min/mile average for the nine miles!

GARMIN

Dave and Dan leave to Europe on Wednesday to run Rome this weekend and Paris on the 9th. It should be a lot of fun!

Last run on US soil before heading to Europe. Go D&D!  Make us proud!

Finding a Pacer for Saint Louis Marathon

I talked to my friend Jeff into pacing me for the last thirteen miles of the Saint Louis Marathon. I would like to finish the marathon in about 3 hrs and 38 min.

PACE	TIME
8:35 MPM	3:45:02
8:30 MPM	3:42:51
8:25 MPM	3:40:40
8:20 MPM	3:38:29
8:15 MPM	3:36:18
8:10 MPM	3:34:07

My strategy is to stay with the 3:40 pace group (8:23 min/mile). Then, meet Jeff at mile 13 and stay with the group or run slightly faster. I need to stay with the group, so I don't get burned.

Lucky Run 10K

Decided to run Lucky Run 10K at the last minute.  Registered late, but still had a chance to pick up a shirt. They didn't promise to give me a medal, but they did.
I was glad with my chronos. GARMIN LINK.

First place in the 10K was Amanda Edwards. A girl that belongs to Run a Blaze Iowa. Very impressive times.

Ran 20 miles on Sunday. GARMIN LINK.
I am scared of trying  to run @ 8:20 pace in St Louis marathon. But, I was happy I was able to run faster than that for my last couple of miles in the 20 mile run.

Recovering from Cold

Not sure how I got sick. Being sick together with some cold temperatures slowed me down this week. Mileage went down, but I guess I needed a small break too.
Ran eight miles this morning with the group. we cancelled our Tue/wed morning run because of the snow/ice/rain and cold temperatures this week. So, I really didn't miss any group run.

Treadmill Hill Striking

Last night, we decided to run a few miles at the HTRC. We tried to hit the treadmills, but they were all busy, and there were three treadmills malfunctioning!
We met Nacho Medina working out on my favorite treadmill. I took some slow-video of his running.

Hill-Striking on Treadmill

VFF on Treadmill

Interestingly, he is hill-striking. It will be interesting to video shoot him at different speeds and see if his running form changes.

Week # 13 and Tokyo Marathon 2017

Wilson Kipsang obtained first place running Tokyo's Marathon in 2:03:58 breaking the Tokyo record. That is an average pace of 4:43 min/mile! It's amazing to see how a person can run at that pace for 26 miles. 

Finished week 12 with more than 50 miles. Yesterday's long run was 20 miles. Beautiful 5 mile course on Lake MacBride (five miles each way). Garmin. Ran for three hours and average pace was 9:02 min/mile. Tried Gu after six miles and energy bar after eleven miles. Ran the first eleven miles on gravel road with the Altra shoes, and the rest of the miles with the Nike shoes. 

Altra shoes hurt my big toes when running downhill. Erin suggested I need a larger size. Jeff said they look like clown shoes. Ha-ha, they do! I will keep running in these shoes and see how I feel for April 9th.