Minneapolis Marathon Is Suddenly 5 Days Away

The training didn’t start out too well for what will be my third marathon but fortunately, I was able to make up for it over the past few months. At least I think I did. The brutal winter threatened to cut my training short but once spring arrived, I basically jumped in and continued like nothing had happened. I thought that the sudden increase in miles would surely cause an injury but thankfully, it didn’t.

My right knee became sore after the first long run but disappeared after a two day break. Then the same thing happened to the left knee but it also went away. By the time I was running 15+ mile long runs, there was no sign of pain in either knee.

I am still not sure about the possibility of finishing under the 4 hour mark however. The last 20-miler was not very encouraging. To finish under the 4-hour mark, I will need to maintain a pace of at least 9:09 minutes/mile. During the 20-mile run, I maintained a pace well under the target but I felt awful when finished. I ran 20.2 miles and couldn’t imagine going another block much less another 6 miles.

It will be interesting to see how I feel during the marathon when I reach the 20 mile mark. A decision will have to be made on whether a sub-4 is doable or will I just jog/walk the rest and shoot for 4:15 or 4:30. Who knows? Maybe I’ll just find a shaded tree and take a nap.