The Flying Workout (followed by The Flying Biscuit)

Hey everybody!

Gregor here.  There's a lot to be excited about 22 days out from our marathon!  This morning, Wilbie and I carried out a mock run through of our race-day morning.  So, since the real race starts at 7 a.m., the two of us woke up before the crack of dawn, right around 5 a.m. to get some food in our bellies, and have an idea of how our race-day mornings would feel.  After a tasty english muffin with a handful of blue berries, Wilbie and I each made the trek to Raleigh to run on the actual marathon course.  Our goal for the day was to run a total of twenty miles with 18.5 of those miles at our intended marathon pace.  Remember when I told you there's a lot to be excited about 22 days out?  Well here's the exciting part... we nailed it!!  After a 2 mile unintentional tour of some Raleigh neighborhoods (due to some missing street signs), which we used to get our legs warm on a chilly morning (46 degrees at the start of our run), we kicked it up a notch and started clicking off miles at around 6:45 per mile.  Although we were delayed a few more times in the following 18.5 miles (mostly due to faulty race course directions we got from the race's official website!!), the two of us finished, although rather sluggishly after a few tough hills in the last couple of miles.

All in all it was a great run!  Wilbie and I enjoyed some serene views out by the Shelley Lake part of the course, as well as some awesome running-friendly greenways compliments of the City of Oaks.  From here on out, we'll be starting our phase of training known as the "taper", leading up to the big day.  Over the next three weeks we'll gradually tone down the mileage and intensity of our runs in an effort to make sure our legs are as fresh as possible for race day.  Needless to say, we're both looking forward to backing off from the intensity of the training a bit so we can really see how all of our hard work over the past fifteen weeks has come together.

We definitely learned a few things during today's run that we'll need to address in the next three weeks.  For instance, we'll need to work on those hills so we don't bonk with three miles to go on November 4th!  I also personally learned about The Flying Biscuit, a great place to eat breakfast if you happen to like delicious food (try the oatmeal pancakes with peach compote if you ever find yourself there)!

With race day quickly approaching, Wilbie and I would like to thank those of you who have kept up with our blog and donated to Chatham County Habitat for Humanity.  Your donation goes towards a great cause, and those who ultimately benefit from it will be greatly appreciative!  Remember to let your friends know about our fundraising initiative, and to keep tuning into our blog!

'Til next time,
Gregor