The thirtieth running of the Twin Cities Marathon is only three weeks away, yet I feel like I’m the most prepared I’ve ever been. Today was my last long run, which I’ve pushed up to 22.5 miles this time around (never did longer than 17 before this year). Almost all of my mileage this summer has occurred on Lake Vermilion or around the Minneapolis lakes, which is a nice change from boring suburban routes. And a big shout out to Megan for helping me build up to those longer distances (and getting faster).

Ah, to be in my twenties again…

I recently switched my mileage log over to a custom-built database running on this site after using the Runner’s World run log for several years. As of today, my 2011 total is “only” 564 miles (after a high of 1001 in 2009). This is still ahead of last year and 2008, but not as high as I’d like. I attribute part of that to doing more cross training (particularly mountain biking) and the rest to my weekly commute schedule. I’ll start my taper now, so September mileage won’t get too much higher.

My 2009 Monster Half time of 1:39 gets me into the first wave for TCM again, so I’m hoping to break my marathon PR of 3:47 this year. The next best goal would be to run sub-four (which I’ve never done at this race) and finally, just set a new TCM PR (4:13). My body has held up OK on these longer training runs, but I definitely got slower at the end today. Hopefully three weeks of shorter runs will be just what I need to fully recover before October 2. Fingers crossed for good weather too.

Crossing over to “TMI” territory, I’ve had some painful bleeding problems twice in the past month. I used Glide today and was OK, but the weather was also pretty dry. I should be OK for the race as long as it doesn’t rain or get too humid. If that happens, I’ll just make sure not to wear a white shirt (ick).

The new GMC sports vitamins I’ve been taking have helped with joint pain, but today my ankles and hips hurt a little more than usual. I plan to increase my upper body and core workouts the next three weeks to offset the decrease in miles and help out with the hills and my kick at the finish of the TCM course.

This is the last race I’m currently registered for, but there are several I’d like to do if I can come up with the money. Team Ortho’s Monster Half is moving to St. Paul this year and I really like the course, but $75 is pushing it for me when it comes to a half. Megan is registered for the Goofy Challenge in January and asked if I wanted to run it also, but airfare and the $350 entry fee make that highly unlikely (even with a free lodging and park admission offer from my brother). I’m also holding off on the 2012 Grandma’s for now, as there’s still a chance I will get picked for New York next year. Lots of other wish list races too…