I'm about three weeks away from my next race and I haven't been blogging much about it. I think I didn't want to blow it out of proportion but now it feels like I've just ignored it altogether.
My next race of course is the Long Beach Half Marathon. It's going to be an exciting race for several reasons, one of them being that I'll know several of the other participants there that day, in either the half or full. Several Loper friends, blog buddies and just assorted friends are taking part in the race so it should be an exciting and memorable day.
As far as my goals go, I do want to PR. I want to accomplish that much. Given my past, though, I will not be disappointed if I do not PR. Two years ago running 13.1 was a dream, four years ago it was something I did not think possible and five years ago... well, I was a much different (larger) person back then. That all puts in perspective of course.
Still, I think that helps ground me somewhat and helps me relax and focus on the goal at hand. I've been doing strong recently in my runs. I have been doing speedwork and had an awesome speedwork session on Friday. I've been doing a lot of miles in under nine minutes on my regular weekday runs, and that's encouraging.
Now, my half-marathon PR is 1:56:58, which is a pace of 8:55 per minute. I think I can shave off 5-10 seconds per minute, which means a finish time of between 1:54 and 1:56. It might be close and I might miss out on it but I do think I have some things in my favor.
* Speedwork. I wasn't doing much of it before Redlands. Even though my mileage was higher before Redlands - I was knocking out 12-15 milers each Sunday - my speedwork is helping me get faster.
* Determined. I always feel like I am more determined the more races I get under my belt, so I think I'm more determined now and that's going to make the difference.
* Course. The biggest factor is the course. Redlands was hilly and Long Beach is not. It's flat save for like one hill maybe.
We'll see if all of these factors work out in my favor or not. Whatever the case, I'm going to have a lot of fun trying to chase my PR.
5 comments:
Good luck to your runs hope that you will reach you goals...Also looking forward for good result.
I hope it all works out for you, LB! You so deserve it!!!
You will do it. And it's going to be AWESOME!
I think you have it in you. I always know though, that the mental game is the hardest - stay postive and own it LB - that PR is yours!
I can't wait either - it will be a blast!!
Is this the one your brother is running too? You are going to do awesome especially since your have been rocking the speed work!
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