Signs

When Marathon Day is approaching, I look for signs. The signs more or less inform me what to expect, how to pace myself, and generally how I'm going to do. The Akron Marathon is pretty much done approaching now; it's here, less than 48 hours away. Here are the signs.

Weather: This is a huge sign, and it looks good: low in the upper 40s and high around 70, with clear skies. This is about as good as it can get these days. It always seems as though I get poor weather days when I'm feeling well trained, with the opposite being the case as well.

Weight: Another big sign. I think I heard the formula as 2 seconds per mile per pound of excess weight. So, if you're one pound overweight, you will run a marathon 52 seconds slower. I know: there are so many other variables that weight matters less than you might think. Yet I pay attention to it, and it's not good news. I've been over 160 pounds most of this year, although today I managed to coax the scale to show 159.8. I race better when I'm under the 160 mark.

Training Volume: Most of my training weeks this year have been around 70 miles. (70 slow miles.) Still, it's a good thing.

Training Intensity: Two benchmarks that I pay attention to are my long runs and my Yasso workouts. If I can nail both of those, I am confident that I can perform well in the marathon. This time around, I haven't been quite so consistent with speedwork. It's another area for improvement.

Other Races: Of course, the best predictor of marathon performance is performance in recent races, assuming that recovery is complete. My racing season has had its ups and downs this year. The Cleveland Marathon was disappointing, and most recently, the River Run was fairly awful, excuses be damned. Other half marathons were so-so. Slower than last year, but (barely) acceptable. I think my best race performance so far this year was at the Hermes 10-Miler in April.

What does all this tell me? Mostly, don't go out too fast (since I probably wouldn't be able to maintain such a pace) and don't set expectations too high (since I'd probably be disappointed). Hey, I've got an idea: Go out easy and try to enjoy the experience, no matter what.