Countdown to Providence

And, I'm back!

I'm not going to lie - the last few weeks have been rather interesting.  With work travel to Montana and Michigan and having to address a few issues when I returned to DC, I haven't had much time to sit down and write.  Thankfully, things have calmed down a lot and I feel a heck of a lot better than I did last week. 

Just in time too -- because the Cox Sports Marathon is four days away!

For whatever reason, I'm more anxious about this race than I have been for any other marathon.  I spent part of my afternoon thinking about all the things that could go wrong before and during the race, which wasn't productive at all.  But, it forced me to start making a mental list of everything that I need to pack and things I need to do before leaving for Providence. 

I also started to think more about my strategy for the race.  Ideally,  I'd like to finish this race in 4:15:00 or faster.  Looking back at Philadelphia, I definitely started too fast and was pretty wiped by Mile 18, which is when the frequency of my walk breaks increased.  For Providence, I'm going to try to run negative splits (a revolutionary idea, I know).  I should be able to handle running the first 13 miles at about a 10:00 pace and then pick up to 9:00 miles in the second half of the race.  It sounds manageable, and I should be able to reach my time goal if I stick to the plan.

The race will be a lot of fun.  I just need to calm down, trust my training, and focus on the present. 

It's the final countdown, folks!