A Little Over a Week To Go

After all this time, it's hard to believe that this Goliath is as close in front of me as it is now. It's strange, I've been at peace about the impending marathon even though I am not 100% physically. I am confident I will get through the race. I won't do as well as I was hoping to and preparing for given the state of my leg, but I'm ok with that. I am really looking forward to getting to the starting line. I just pray there is decent weather. Tonight's would be nice, overcast, 41 degrees, and mild winds out of the north, though east or west will be better for the race.

I did 5.25 miles this evening and it went pretty well. Here are the notes and splits from my log (I know Tami Sue, you don't like to read about running):

Felt very good despite the continued leg pain which remains about a 4-5/10 during my recent runs. Slight left achilles knagging as well, this is like the second or third consecutive run for that. Nothing horrible though and, other than those couple of issues I felt really good and very strong, and feel like I am ready to "pull the trigger." I just wish my leg were agreeing with the rest of me. I'm wondering if my heart rate readings were erroneous because I was not exerting myself badly at all and felt "normal", if there is such a thing for me. It usually averages in the mid-150's though when I do an easy. Max of 178 I normally have when I have kicked and I didn't do anything near that type of exertion. So, this heart rate thing is puzzling to me. I know I haven't run consistently in a couple of weeks, but it shouldn't be that far off what it was running. I did tighten the strap up a bit before my run, maybe that caused a skewed reading. Dunno. Splits:

1: 9:21
2: 9:22
3: 9:38
4: 9:35
5: 9:31
Last 1/4: 9:22

I'll be doing my final medium long run of 8 miles sometime this weekend, provided my leg tolerates it ok, if not I won't proceed with it, and then low mileage for the rest of next week leading up to the race.