Jacksonville Bank Marathon

Jacksonville Bank Marathon
December 19th, 2010 @ 7AM
26.2 Miles need to be covered in under 3 hours 15 minutes 59 seconds.
That's running, on average, at least 7:28/mile or faster.

Course
The course is described as flat, fast, and very scenic with 85% shade. That's 22 miles of shade to take advantage of, if the sun decides to pop it's ugly head out. I'm a notoriously horrible hot weather runner, and coming from Michigan's weather in late mid-December to Florida's historical mid 50s with 88% humidity in the morning I'm going to need all the help I can get. I concede some of these problems are self-induced psychosomatic, but they are problems none-the-less. I'm hoping that arriving two days ahead of time will help in some LARGE way. I'm also crossing my fingers for record low temps on December 19th. I don't really drink orange juice anyways...so let it be 32 degrees, if only for 3 hours and 16 minutes. Not too many people will be affected by damaged crops, right?

All joking aside, I've put in the mileage and feel I'm prepared to run somewhere between 7:14 and 7:28 per mile over the course set out. No "I'm feeling strong I can hold this pace and hold back the fade through 26..." I've tried that before, didn't work out so well.

The Plan(s)
1. The first half (13.1 miles) I need to come through in 1:37:30 or very close to that. That would be 7:27 per mile. Pick it up to 7:25 pace for the second half and come in satisfied with a Boston Qualifier (BQ).
2. Go out in 7:25 for the first 20 miles and gradually pick it up (one or two seconds per mile) and see what I can do on that last mile.
3. Put my watch on "PACE" and just make sure I stay close to 7:28 per mile.
4. Don't overthink it.

Now let's hope this chest congestion I've had for three weeks clears up and everything else stays on track.