...if you wanna Rock and Roll
3 days until the 2012 Rock & Roll USA Nation's Capital Half Marathon (yeah, I'll be happy when I don't have to type that out anymore), and today was day 112 (16 full weeks) of my run streak. Things are starting to fall together nicely.
I'm going into this race with a ton of confidence, building off of my personal-best at the Reston 10 Miler on March 4th. Going into R&R, my PR for a half-marathon is 1:59:09, set last year at Shamrock in Virginia Beach, on a pancake-flat course. The DC course is much more hilly, especially with the big gain from mile 4 to about mile 7. So my initial goal for DC was to just beat my Shamrock time, even if it was by one second. After Reston, though, and seeing how well I've trained, I have set my ultimate goal to not just PR, but to do it in a sub-9 minute pace. An 8:59 pace would be 1:57:40 (or so), which, for me, would be fantastic.
So, to recap, initial goal is to beat my Shamrock PR. Realistic goal is to run in the 1:58 range. The ultimate goal would be to run a 1:57:40 or better. Since I've been training all these weeks with a 9:04 pace in mind, that's how I'm going to run the first 10 miles. If, at mile 10, I'm at 1:31 or so, I'm going for the gold - I'd only need to do a 27-minute 5K to get a sub-1:58.
Too much thinking? Probably. I just need to go out and run like I've bene doing thre past 16 weeks; smart, and within myself.
And now, for a musical interlude, inspired by my title, which will be my "pump me up" tune on Saturday morning:
Dave,
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you will do well my brother. I've never met you, but I often feed off of your dedication and energy. For that I say Thank You. As for the race, there is no doubt in my mind you will finish sub 9 min/mile and sub 1:58. Wait and see, you're on the inside looking out, but I'm on the outside looking in ate the whole picture. Best of luck my friend even though you don't need it.
Sincerely,
Kelly Stewart