Two Day Active Rest

So here we are...two days to lift off.  The race event is being yellow flagged with a high of 87 in the forecast.  My one and only other half marathon was also yellow flagged.  August 1, 2010 for the Chicago Rock and Roll Half Marathon.  It also was well into the 80s and VERY humid.  Much of the course was along Lake Michigan.  I had figured it would be cooler by the lake but what little breeze there was came from the west INTO the lake providing ZERO relief.  It was so humid, steam was rising off the lake.  Ozone levels were up.  There was about 20,000 people running that race.  There was rarely a time you weren't surrounded by people.  Here's a video of what it was like running that race.  Fun in the downtown area.  Not as fun once on Lake Shore Drive going south.  The crowds were gone and it was just us runners sharing the misery.  :D

The Chicagoland Spring Marathon & Half Marathon in Schaumburg, IL will only have about 1,300 racers.  MUCH, MUCH smaller.  And for a slower runner like me, there will be lots of people left on the course when I cross the finish line.

Tomorrow AM...POSSIBLY a short bike and easy at that.  Dinner out at an Italian restaurant (two nights in a row, in fact) so a bit of pasta and I'm good to go!  My worries will only be how my BRAND new shoes work (had trouble with the new stability shoes and had to take them back after getting some severe tightness in the shins....Went back to my previous pair only NEW b/c old ones were worn out...BAD TIMING!), and the hot weather.

Hoping to finish under 2:36 which was my last time on the half.  I hit a major wall on mile 8 from going to fast too soon.  Hope I learned from that and can better pace myself.  May follow the 2:30 pacer and if there is enough steam left in my tank and all goes well, maybe I can even beat that.  But given the heat....as the race director said, "The hot day is not the time to PR!"  So....playing it safe here!

Happy Trails and good luck to my friends running the race.  Best wishes Paul on your 40th birthday gift to yourself by doing the FULL marathon!  You rock!