A couple of easy days!

I tried out my new Garmin 610 on Friday night. That makes it Garmin #5. Previously used the 205, 405, 310XT & F60. Gave away the 205, the 405 died, been using the 310XT of late in conjuction with the F60 (for trackwork). I must say, the 610 certainly looks better than the others, although I don't mind the look of the F60. It nearly even closely resembles a watch. It feels light and is not so bulky. It worked, so I'll stick with it. When it comes to styling, the new Garmin still resembles a Toyota though (safe but boring). At least they look better than those ridiculous earlier models, which I would say resemble a Leyland P76.

Did a cruisy 13 odd km's last night in an hour. Followed it up with a really relaxed 25 min jog today. I'd estimate 5 km's.

The plan tomorrow is to pace the Sydney 1/2 marathon 80 min group. I'm actually still not sure if I'm doing it. The organisers haven't come back to me still and I haven't got a race number. Anyway, I'll rock up and if they want me to pace I will. If not, no problems, I'll run over to Centennial Park and join the SWEAT squad for a long run. Looks like it'll be warm and muggy. Hardly my preferred conditions for running, but I don't mind. I haven't run in warm conditions for quite a while now and it might be beneficial, just in case Chicago dishes up similar conditions in 3 weeks. I'll wear a heart rate monitor too. This data should give me some feedback on just where my race fitness is at and provide me with a guide on what sort of strategy to take to Chicago.

I'd love to think I'm in sub 2:40 or at least PB shape (2:41:14) but I actually have no idea what sort of shape I'm in. I haven't done any of the  longer marathon paced runs this preparation. I've always liked to build up with a half, 25 km & 30km marathon effort runs. This preparation, I've tried a few different things:

* Lower mileage, which has me feeling much fresher between runs;
* Longer tempo runs (12 km's) at around 1/2 marathon pace effort;
* Longer intervals (3 x 3.55 white fence runs at Centennial Park);
* Less V02 sessions (ie less than 5 min intervals);
* Very little racing;
* No stretching at all (intentional);
* Minimal core work (laziness);
* Progressive paced long runs up to 39 km's with a faster finish (last 8 - 16 km's). I really struggled with the long runs after the GC 1/2, but have become better conditioned over the past month or so; and
* I have never tried a 1/2 marathon 3 weeks out, so will be interesting to see how it works.

My real focus is the London Marathon next April, so experimenting with something different adds a little variety and might give me some new ideas. I am toying with the idea of going back to the Lydiard Periodisation approach with the next one, but will ponder this deeper after Chicago.

One good thing about pacing the 80 minute 1/2 tomorrow is that my mate T will also be pacing with me. He's kicked my butt in every race for a year now, so at least it's pretty safe he won't tomorrow. Then again, he's so competitive I'm already picturing him surging over the last 2 metres. ;)