Confidence critical prior to an important race

In planning for a race one's mental preparation is just as important as one's physical preparation. To help instill confidence it's important to have a good 'dry-run' of one's race roughly one-week prior with two or more late miles at, or slightly faster than one's target pace. Consequently, I was ecstatic to execute an excellent Kenyan Way 11-mile training run with a Boston-bound friend this morning, as we managed a good negative split and ran strongly throughout.

Naturally, my morning's attire, shoes and pre-race nutrition were all consistent with next week's race, and the only variable completely outside my control is weather (this morning's temperature was ideal in the low to mid 30's.) I'm hoping for the best weather next Sunday, as I hope to surpass my half-marathon P.R. time of 1:35 set in Chicago in the fall of 2009.