The National Weather Service now is calling for a high of 88 degrees in Boston on Monday. Time to be realistic. Looking at my last post that means Plan A, which is running it easy and assuring a safe finish.
No heroics. So, the whole theme for Monday is... Don't Be "That Guy".
Pushing it will only lead to being "that guy". There will be plenty of them on Monday, I suspect. Hobbled, cramping, exhausted runners who took a chance and lost. Maybe it'll work out okay for a few of them who still try to crank it, depending on the definition of "okay".
But I'd be willing to bet for the vast majority of them...it won't. I would rather run easy and pass the zombie masses towards the end than become one of them. For me, cranking out for a slight chance of doing "okay" wouldn't mean much more than running it easy and assuring a safer finish, so the latter makes more sense.
I'm at peace with that decision. Sure, I'd rather be going for a sub-3 with temperatures in the lower 50s and a tailwind, but I'm still very much looking forward to Monday. It will hopefully be fun to feel no pressure and just enjoy the run. The crowd support will no doubt be even more awesome because of the weather, so that'll make it even more memorable. It'll just be a 26.2 mile long running party, albeit a hot one.
I'm already qualified for Boston again in 2013 which helps take the pressure off, and I still may decide to do Sugarloaf next month, but I'm going to wait until next week to make that decision.
Final run this morning. Lower 60s felt pretty warm, assuring me that running it in weather that will be 25 degrees warmer will necessitate an easy pace.
Ran 2.0 miles @ 8:46/mile pace.
Trails.
Mostly flat.
Lower 60s, sunny, breezy.
New Balance MT110, shorts, short sleeved shirt.
