Ready!

With the Mount Desert Island Marathon a week away, I completed my last longish run today. It was just twelve miles. I started off easy, but picked up the pace as the run went on. In the end, my pace was similar to my half-marathon time in May. However, today felt very comfortable. It's nice to know that all the mileage this summer has paid off. Maybe I'll try to keep it up over the winter, but I do hate those cold, dark winter days.

Now for the lowdown on the results of my training plan for this summer.

747 miles over 17 weeks, average pace 8:45 minutes per mile/5:25 minutes per kilometer (June, July and August averaged just over 200 miles per month)

Compare this to the year before ...

2009: 690 miles, avg pace 8:58 mins/mile or 5:34 mins/km

Note that the total miles according to the Pfitzinger 18/55 plan over the first 17 weeks are 767. I missed much of one week due to injury, so overall I was happy with my final numbers falling just 20 miles short of the original plan. Also, the training this year included much running on hills, which I did very little last year, so the improvement in pace would have been better had I trained on flatter routes.

I feel better prepared for this marathon than either of my previous two, and I don't think my training could have gone much better. I'm injury-free, and the weather forecast (so far) looks very good. What does it all mean? I'm not sure, given the terrain of the course. I'll take it one hill at a time, and try to enjoy the experience!

Here is a way I definitely will not finish. Check out this incredible video from the end of the Chicago Marathon today:

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