October 6

AM: 4 miles @ MP, 3 x 200m strides, 9 miles

Today called for one final tune-up on the track, and it felt smooth, relaxed, and about the same pace as the same workout before City of Oaks last year. That's a good thing because on a flat course with competition and better weather, I'm confident the same effort would have put me under 2:30 fairly comfortably.

The plan for Sunday is to shoot for 1:15:00 while holding back, hold 'er steady and slightly accelerate in miles 14-23, and then really try to pick off as many people as I can up Michigan Ave, where we are supposed to have a tailwind. It will be a battle of willpower at that point.

I realize this isn't the most original plan in the world for Chicago, but going through in 75 minutes even through the half will put me on pace to go under 2:30 because experience shows that the first 1-3 miles are going to be slower than goal pace.

Splits: 5:41, 5:42, 5:38, 5:34