6.5 weeks remain before the Chicago marathon but a little unfinished business remains on labor day (September 6th) in New Haven over a 20 kilometer distance. I find it hard to remain focused on the Chicago marathon and shorter races along the way. Keeping your eyes fixated on the big picture instead of getting worked up over the shorter races because you want to perform well is a challenge physically and emotionally. My performance in New Haven will have a little bit of guesswork involved since my training is different in years past and Im in a new location.  I have no bench mark workouts or loops in Flagstaff that I can use to measure my current fitness which will make the New Haven 20k interesting.
Last weekend, I had my first "man workout" which was a 15 mile tempo on Lake Mary Rd. I was nervous heading in but happy I have one under my belt now. Greg had me keep it really under control for the first 11 miles and let me do some running over the last 4 miles. Nick and I were clipping off 5:20s without a problem for 11 miles then ran 19:49 the last 4 miles with the last 2 miles in 9:44. I was pleased for my first time out on Lake Mary Rd and enthused to know theres more in the tank. 

The marathon has and still is a bit of a mystery to me so I have been picking the brains and learning from predecessors to see what training they have done and what worked and what didn't work. Ultimately, Greg is writing my program but I feel like its important to truly know the sport inside and out. I have received great insight from guys like George Malley, Ron Tabb, Dickie Beardsley, Amby Burfoot, Benji Durden, and Don Janicki.  Learning from these marathoning legends will lay down an instrumental foundation for what will hopefully be marathoning success.