It's Marathon Week - Time for a Contest!

Just in case you didn't know, I am running my first marathon on Sunday!  Since none of you signed up to run with me, I thought I'd give you the chance to guess my finishing time and win a prize in the process.  Just leave a comment with your guess and you're automatically entered.  I'm not on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or anywhere else.  Just here, on Blogger.  You don't need to check out another site.  Just leave your comment right here!

You can write your guess anyway you want, for example if you think I'll finish in four hours, five minutes and twenty three seconds, you can write:

• 4:05:23  or
• Four oh five twenty three or
• Four hours, five minutes, and twenty three seconds
• Or any other variation you can come up with.

The winner will be the one who guesses most closely to my finishing time.  The prize is a $25 Amazon gift card.

I really don't know how fast or slow I'll be.  9 minutes a mile will be about 3:55.  10 minutes a mile will be about 4:20.  Here are some helpful hints:

• My training plan is called Break 4:00 Marathon, which means I've been training to finish in under four hours.
• I need to run about 9 minutes a mile to finish in under four hours.
• I ran my fastest long run, 13.1 miles, in 2:05:10.  That's a pace of 9:33, which would put my marathon time at 4:10:20.
• I've run single miles as fast as 8:33, but never maintained anything that fast for more than a mile.
• I ran Yasso 800s, finishing a half mile in 3:58.
• I ran a marathon pace run of 8 miles with an average pace of 9:06.
• All of my running has included hills.  There is no way to avoid it around here.  I run slower going uphill.
• The marathon is flat and downhill, it begins at 700 feet and descends to sea level.  There are no climbs over 2% grade.  I run faster going downhill.
• I currently don't have any injuries.  The past couple weeks of tapering have helped.

So guess away!  Winner will be announced on Monday, June 4th.  No guesses allowed after 6:00 a.m. on Sunday, June 3rd.