Final prep

Running: 
It’s hard to believe the Lakefront marathon is only a few days away. I think I am as ready as I can be. I really tried to take the taper period seriously this training cycle. I think in previous marathons I over trained during the taper and went in with legs not fully recovered. Any way I’ll see if this strategy helps me at the end of the race. I think I’ll be going down to the expo and packet pick up on Friday night after work. Saturday could get busy with some other things so I’d rather not take a chance and be rushed to get downtown. Right now the weather is calling for very chilly morning temperatures the day of the race. Frost warnings will likely be up even near the lake and highs should only be in the mid 50’s. This should help produce some pretty good times if this holds up. It will be interesting figuring out what to wear and I still have to decide on which shoes. Also still contemplating my race pace and strategy. I’m really leaning toward at least starting with the 3:20 pace group and adjusting as the race unfolds. I don’t want to sell myself short either if race day proves to be better than anticipated.

Last week I ran a few miles of each run at expected race pace. Most of the miles were just at a comfortable pace for the distance. I took two complete rest days. Monday was one of those rest days, the other was on Friday. Tuesday I ran 6.5 miles in the morning before work in 54:44. Wednesday I ran 5 miles during my lunch break in 37:33. Thursday was 4 miles mid day in 32:14. Saturday I ran 6.5 miles in the early morning in 51:59. Sunday I started at 7:30 am which is close to race start time and did 12 miles with 6 at race pace in 1:33:05 total time. This week will be three rest days and three run days (about 15 miles) and the race Sunday.
Totals through last week.
WTD 34
MTD 172
YTD 1741
ODO 26907

Hunting:

I still haven’t been out hunting yet. I’m starting to feel that itch now though. I’ve been practicing shooting regularly in the mornings and things have gone quite well. I have been seeing several nice deer while on my morning runs, and seeing hunters cars out in the state forest after them. After the marathon is over that is where my attention will shift. I’ve been watching a few hunting shows to get the blood flowing. I really like some of the hunting I see up in Canada. Maybe someday I will be so lucky to try it. I noticed two products I thought were interesting. The first is the airskinner. It uses air pressure to help peel the hide off of a deer. If this works it looks like it will save lots of time and make less of a mess. I’ll keep watching for reviews. This next one is a blood finding agent  product that is supposed to make blood glow. It’s actually the same product that can be used by forensic experts for crime investigation. They advertise it will even work in the rain. Several other tracking products sold at this site (trackem.biz) look interesting too.

Gardening:
This past weekend I harvested what was left of my three rows of potatoes. I ended up with a large garden cart full. I also harvested half of the sweet potatoes and beets which ended up being about a five gallon bucket full of each. Picked the last of the green beans and picked all of the squash. I have about two wheel barrows full of squash of different varieties. We dodged the frost the other night but by this weekend we are supposed to get it again. I’ll be scrambling between now and then to harvest all the pumpkins and get them covered. Looking this morning there will be about 100 or so real nice ones. Almost 100% of them have turned orange already unlike last year when half were still green at first frost. I also managed to get the entire lawn fertilized over the past couple days. It’s nice to get it done after the aeration last week and before the leaves fall in a few weeks from now. The pool is scheduled for closing this coming Thursday.