Saturday, March 10, 2012

Half Marathon Eve

I'm very much looking forward to the Midcoast Half Marathon tomorrow. Will be a bit of a long drive over and the fact that Daylight Savings Time begins tonight doesn't help much with the early departure time. Thankfully, I'm an early riser so it shouldn't be too much of an issue.

Been thinking a lot about what I hope to accomplish tomorrow. For one, tomorrow will hopefully serve as a good litmus test for my training and I can better gauge what I can expect for Boston. Additionally, this will also serve as a great workout, putting more hay in the barn before I begin the three week taper in just - gulp - two weeks.

I was talking goals with Ryan the other day, which was helpful... primarily because he reminded me that this isn't my goal race. It really helped that he underscored that because, well, it's true. Also, using this race as an indicator for Boston might not be as prudent since it looks like a pretty tough course. Looking at the elevation chart, I'd say it's a much higher degree of difficulty than Boston as far as elevation is concerned. Those last three or four miles are going to be tough, even though I run on hills often.

That all being said, I do have some goals:

- It'd be great to break 1:25, but that's a reach. I think I could do that on a flatter course if I was having a really good day, but that might not be the case tomorrow.

- Anything over 1:30 will likely be a bummer.

- Realistically, I think between 1:27 and 1:28 is reasonable.

It'll be pretty easy to hold a fast pace for the first nine miles, based on the elevation chart. I suspect I'll be on a sub-1:25 pace until that point. After that, I imagine I'll be seeing what I'm made of, so I guess that's the pacing strategy. Looking forward to the challenge.

Oh yeah, I ran this morning also. I took a rest day yesterday to ensure fresh legs. This morning, it was all about going short and slow to make sure they didn't get a little stale. A thin coating of snow on the roads provided good traction while also acting as an effective speed governor. Good run.

Ran 3.0 miles @ 8:16/mile pace.
Paved roads, coated with a thin layer of powdery snow.
Slightly hilly.
Upper 20s, mostly cloudy.
Saucony Kinvara 2, long tights, windbreaker, short sleeved shirt, beanie, gloves.

1 comment:

middle.professor said...

Good assessment. It does look like a honest course, but maybe not any tougher than mid-winter. Wish I could run it with you. Wishing you a strong race.