Wednesday, July 18, 2012

GOALS FOR MY FIRST HALF MARATHON

Hard to believe my first half is mere days away! I am doing a very light week this week in terms of running, probably only 10-12 miles before the half on Sunday. We'll see how this works out. I don't think a week of "slacking" is enough to negatively affect my cardio or anything, but hopefully my legs will feel a little fresher.

Most runners seem to have A, B, and C goals. Your "A" goal is what you could hope to acheive on a perfect day. Your B goal is really more of a realistic goal, but still somewhat of a challenge. The "C" goal is what you hope you can do without feeling like absolute crap.

It being my first half, I am not going to put a ton of pressure on myself. I'm curious to see just how well trained I actually am. Given the difficulty of my last two long runs (11 and 10 miles), I am not so sure but I am hoping I can blame those on the heat. I know for a fact I can complete the distance, that is no problem. My challenge will be pacing myself correctly... going fast enough to get the best time I can, but not too fast to the point I am going to flame out with a few miles to go. I honestly have no idea what that pace is though!

"C" Goal: Finish the race without walking. Time doesn't matter, just finish the damn thing. I am going to allow myself to slow and possibly walk for the aid stations (matters what the aid is and if I can consume it while maintaining a slow jog), but other than that, I hope to not have to take any breaks. It's stupid, but even if I have to slow to a jog the pace of what I would be walking, I need to keep "running."

"B" Goal: Under two hours. This is a milestone for a lot of runners and a common goal. Getting under two hours requires a pace of 9:09 or faster. Pretty sure I can do that, but my training run of only ten miles last weekend I was running 9:03s (granted, it was hot). Honestly, if I finish above two hours, I will be disappointed. This is my main goal for this race. Sub two!

"A" Goal: Sub 1:50. I doubt I can achieve this, but I feel like I could if I had a great run. This requires a pace of 8:23 or faster. I know I could easily maintain that pace for 8 miles, the question is can I maintain it for 13? With cool morning weather and aid stations, maybe? I would be thrilled if I could get this time, but I need to be careful not to burn myself out trying for it. Frankly, as long as I am under two I'll feel good.

So there you have it! Should be an interesting day. I'll have to wake up at 4am to drive down to the race, which starts in Coburg at 7am. Fatigue could be a factor... going to have to try to get to bed at like 10.

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