In the long run

July 1. That's what the calendar on my desk says.

"July 1. July 1. July ... holy crap, the RnR Chicago is just a month away," I thought to myself.

Yep, one month from day, I'll be towing the line at the Rock 'n' Roll Chicago and anxiously waiting to run a 13.1-mile race for the second time. Yay!

Yay?

I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't nervous. I am nervous. With a couple lackluster long runs recently, I can't help but wonder if I can do this again and do it the way I want to. As in, I hope I don't feel like I'm going to die at mile 10 the way I did during the Flying Pig half-marathon.

With one month to go to ease that fear and reduce that possibility, here's what needs to happen:

• Two quality long runs
  
• A 5K PR, hopefully
• A longer midweek long run
• Consistent ab work
  
• Consistent 5-mile maintenance runs
• Whole lot of confidence building

To get working on that last one, I decided to take a look at my running log from March, as I prepared for the Pig.

The stats:

Total miles: 77.54
Number of runs: 17
Longest run: 9.01 miles
Average distance: 4.86 miles
Pace range: 9:15 to 11:05 (12 out of 17 runs in the 10s)

Now, let's look at June.

Total miles: 105.47
Number of runs: 17
Longest run: 10.02
Average distance: 6.2 miles
Pace range: 9:06 to 9:56 (10 out of 17 runs 9:30 or faster)

Before we get to what those numbers mean, let's pause for a moment. June was my first-ever 1oo+ mile month. YAY! (No question marks here!)

Now, to the stats. The numbers show, obviously, that I'm running farther and faster. I have a stronger base and feel more comfortable at middle distances (7, 8 miles). I would also venture to say that it shows that I've been unable to go farther, earlier - something that I thought would be possible the second time around. I'd been hoping to put that farthest distance at 11 miles, if not 12, by now.

I do have a 12-miler scheduled for this weekend, and it falls about two weeks earlier than the equivalent run in my Pig cycle. If this is a successful run, and I have plans to make it so, that last sentence might be stricken from the record.

And, in return, maybe I'll get some of that confidence I need.