Tobacco Road Marathon Preview

It's the night before the race and I'm going to be getting up in about 5 hours to drive out to Cary, NC. I have most of my stuff packed and have all the coffee fixings ready to be made in the morning. I realize that the race scenario is definite not the idea set up but I'm still confident that I'll do well. It'll be interesting to see who shows up to toe the line. I noticed that the North Carolina Marathon was today and Chuck Engle took the victory. We've raced before at the Tulsa Marathon where I paced the winner through 16 miles and my first marathon at Oklahoma City. Chuck works for Marathon Guide and I would be shocked if he wasn't at the start line tomorrow looking to grab the victory. I doubt he knows that I live in North Carolina now so it will be good to catch up.

I'm looking to go through halfway in around 73 minutes and then drop the pace. I believe a 2:25 finish time is reasonable whether I have competition or not. I've run some really solid workout in the lead up to this race despite the minor set back. My achilles hurt my training for two weeks recently, but I'm still fit and ready to roll.

Here are a few of the key sessions I ran during 2010:

• 8 mile tempo run
• Jus' Running track workout
• Gaudette 800s
• 10 mile tempo run
• Cutting shapes in the snow
• Ruining a tempo run
• Achilles tester
• Fitness gains

Any pre-race predictions out there? Bring 'em.