Racing 10K as a marathon tune-up

This morning I am heading out to race a 10K in Vancouver to both test and improve my fitness. In my previous marathon build-up I tried to do such efforts at home with a couple of other runners. This time around I am keen to race, and was lucky to find one that matched with my training schedule.

"Tune-up races are important benchmarks for your fitness and prepare you mentally for the rigors of racing. Because less is at stake, even the toughest workout isn't as mentally demanding as a race. .. The all-out aspect of racing provides a mental hardening that's necessary to run a good marathon," according to Pete Pfitzinger and Scott Douglas in Advanced Marathoning.

I even had a mini-taper, running only 21K in the past couple of days - both sessions at recovery pace. Thursday's had 6 X 100m striders. I am looking forward to a hard effort.