Jason i am planning to break 1:50, maybe 1:48 if things go well. You have been training much more consistently so should be running a similar pace, I would guess! Perhaps we will meet at the start; I will wear a white TO Marathon cap and blue shirt. One more thought about the hill, don't pull too much out of the energy bank powering up; 15kms is a long time to be paying interest on the loan! Simon.

Thanks for the advice on hogs hollow.... need to take it easy up there.... I plan to head out and run it next weekend so I know what to expect. I'll be in black shorts... orange shirt... white visor.... orange and grey NB shoes.... garmin 305. A similar get up as in the picture on the home page for this group. I'd love to be sub 1:50 but I've been having issues fading over the last 4 miles of my races..... hopefully the downhill will help over the middle miles. hopefully the group can meet before the race.... might be tough to hook up with the guys running the full because of the split start times.... Jason

Yes, but the race really starts around 21-22 miles. Until that point its just semantics. The key for me will be holding back enough to finish well, but not so much as to jeopardize a good overall finish time. That said, a bit less than 3 weeks out, I feel good and ready to go.

You got it right there. It's still too early for me to say how good to go I am. Quads are still sore. Ran last night. That was interesting to say the least. Weird how Sunday I felt great the last 10K (compared to previous 4 marathons) yet this is the worst my quads have felt.

Get that Jason, "The Half" Meh just semantics

So the half isn't even a race.... barely a warm up..... apparently Jerk_aint_enough.

Velcro for me please.... I'll get laces when I run a full race.

A week today the race expo opens. How is everyone feeling? Rest day for me, otherwise everything is good. Last long run tomorrow. I'll put in about 1.5 hours. Then, I need to start taking this taper thing a bit more seriously.

I think I'm going to do something like 8, 12, 16, 12 km over the weekend and next to nothing tues, wed, thurs, fri, Maybe 5 on Sat. I'm going into this one fully rested. Just glad the stiffness finally wore off from last Sundays tip toe fiasco . Who knows maybe it's a new type of hill workout

Taper, pssshhh. My last big decision is shoes. Do I switch up for the marathon like I was planning, or, stick with my most recent pair? Seriously, I woke up at 3 am with this very question in my head. They have a bit over 600 mi. on them, but I feel like pulling them now would be a bit like when the Bills benched Flutie in the playoffs (after he got them into the playoffs following an 0-3 start) in favour of Rob Johnson... well, we all know how that turned out. I am pretty loyal and stuff. Even to shoes. And that, my friends, is likely my answer. Now, time to eat some turkey. Pre-race meet up? Dave, are we starting out together?

I will have all the time in the world for pre-race meet up this time. I am dropping the mrs off for the half and seeing off a bunch of runners from my HM clinic. So let's say, anytime after 9 ... I will be lingering around the Tim Horton's near the start. Who the $#@ know what I will be wearing at this point. I am sure we will find each other. I would love to start out together and run together as long as possible. You never know what race day will dish out. Looking forward to it. I didn't think that I would feel as ready today as I do but here we are. What are all y'all's plan for after? (yes, I said all y'all's) MTA: On a sad note guys, Anita's mother passed away last weekend. It was after a year long battle to recover from a stroke (3 stroke in short span actually) She was a great great woman and definitely deserves my devotion this coming weekend so I dedicate this race entirely to her, as I did last fall's Columbus marathon, which was shortly after her first stroke.