Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Saturday's Long Run: Starting with the Finish

Nice job out there yesterday, with all the Upstarts and the half marathoners!

This weekend should be a fun route - everyone will start together (7am at Whole Foods), and run north on West Avenue.

The half marathoners will turn right on 15th street, and will be on the last couple of miles of the AT&T Half Marathon course, at least as it stands right now.

The full marathoners will run north to MLK, bump over to Rio Grande, then turn right on 24th Street, into campus, where they'll join the last three miles of the marathon course.

I'll have water for the half marathoners just past mile 2, near Congress and 4th, and for the marathoners at about mile 3, near MLK (plus, I'll leave the water out at 4th.

I'll have maps for everyone to take, and I will either run with the half marathoners, or ride the course on my bike so I can catch everyone.

By the end of your training, you will have run the entire route, but in pieces. Some portions, particularly the hilly bit over in Tarrytown, you will know as well as your own neighborhood. Trust me, nothing flattens hills and shortens miles like familiarity. In the AT&T Half Marathon, the half marathoners have a steep hill on 15th Street, at about mile 11, after crossing Lamar. I took some of my halfers on an easy four-mile run a week or so before the race, going up that hill. They had a definite advantage on race day over people who hadn't checked out or run the course. They had a plan going into the hill, and knew what they'd have on the other side, and it just wasn't as much of a problem for them.

BE. ON. TIME. Again, getting up and being punctual is all part of your training. You can be late to everything else in your life, but be on time and ready for your runs. Cool? Cool.

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