10 days to go--The Vancouver Marathon

10 days to go, and tomorrow I tackle the last track workout of 10 Yasso 800m intervals. I started these intervals about 4 weeks ago, and will continue to do them after the marathon to get my speed up. During these intervals, the workout looks like the following:

1. -10 minute warmup
2. -2 laps of 400m track, the pace is usually 1:30s per lap, 3:00 for 2 laps
3. -Recover with a full 3:00 lap, getting my heart rate down to 110-120 bpm
4. -Repeat number 2 as many times as I am doing in that workout.

I started the Yasso's late in my training for the marathon. I began with 5 on Good Friday, bumped to 7, last week to 8, and now I am heading for 10 intervals. The training is hard running between 3:30k and 3:45k, as I tend to go out  a bit too hard and have to scale back, sometimes running a 3:02k pace. I think I have managed to figure out the pace, and running 30 seconds slower at a 4:15k pace is much easier only after 3 of these track sessions. Hopefully this is a predictor of my marathon finish time as some of the things I have read suggest.

Lately I have been running in my New Balance MT110s. This is a minimalist transition shoe, but I am getting used to it as my go-to trail running shoe. At first I kinda liked the shoe but was not sold on it. Now, after a couple of months of use, I love them. The feel of the trail underfoot, the eyes that my feet have developed for the ground, the change in my running gait and footfall--moving from a heel strike to a mid foot landing, all of these combine for a great minimal trail runner. My feet have been adapting to them quite nicely, and I am looking at getting into some of the minimal road shoes as well. I even tried the right shoe out barefoot on the last long run before the BMO Marathon, due to an unexpected stop in the wood to hide something in the trees. Even without a sock on my right foot, the shoe felt almost better than the left foot.

I can forsee a time in the future where my big, bulky shoes are going to be dinosaurs in my closet (Namely my NB MT910s.I think those are now strictly for winter duty now), and much of what I run in will be minimal, lightweight runners. I may have bought my last set of Asics 21** series shoes that I have been faithful to for the last many years, dating back to 2004. That said, with meet your maker coming up, I am thinking of getting into some Salomon Speedcross 3s. Those look like killer trail shoes, and the MYM course would be great to tackle those with.

My back has been out for the last 2 weeks due to some stage fighting, and dancing with a 4 year old on my shoulders. I attended the chiropractor, and today was my first massage therapy session ever. I can say this: The massage therapy was great. I will be back, and in fact, I added a massage to my BMO Marathon registration. I hope that this will help me rebound after the marathon quicker than normal. Today, the massage was painful, and I left the clinic feeling a bit in shock. And stunned. There is a first time for everything.

Tonight feels pretty good though. Boston just got bounced out of the first round. Go Caps!! Joel Ward rocks. A few more runs and then we are a go.