Friday, April 17, 2009

Half Marathon Goals

Setting aside for a moment the fact that I am still sick, let's talk about goals for tomorrow's half marathon. This is not a goal race, just a fun race that happens to fall on a week that I am scheduled to run 15 miles. I figure a hard 13.1 is equal to 15. (I'm a lawyer, not a mathmetician, don't judge.)

I punched in my 8K time from March (42:31) in the McMillan Running Calculator (aka my favorite way to obsess and waste time while at work). That says I should be able to run a half in 1:59:14, a 9:07/mi. pace. Then I punched in my goal time for the marathon (4:27, a 10:12/mi. pace -- which is the pace I've used in calculating my training paces). That says I should be able to run a half in 2:06:51, a 9:41/mi. pace.

My eventual goal is to run a sub-2 hour half marathon. I would be ecstatic if that happened tomorrow. But I'm not really planning on it. I haven't been training for it. Running a 2:06 would be a confidence booster for me, and would confirm that I am on track with my marathon training. And a 2:06 half would be a PR for me. So I'm going to shoot for between 9:10 and 9:40 minute miles and see what happens. My main goal is to run strong and not wimp out. And eat Chipotle after the race. Does it get any better?

8 comments:

Erika said...

Good luck and have fun! I bet you could do a sub-2.

MCM Mama

tfh said...

Have fun! I couldn't agree more about the hard 13.1 = or > easy 15, but I'm confident that if anyone disagrees you could convince us through your lawyerly persuasion. :)

ShutUpandRun said...

Good luck tomorrow. When it gets tough, just think of that burrito. Enjoy if you can!!

Sarah said...

Good luck tomorrow! Can't wait to read about it!

Aron said...

have fun and good luck!!!!! :)

joyRuN said...

Good luck!!!

Oh man - I would LOVE to run a sub-2 half.

RunMommyRun said...

Looking forward to hearing how your race went. Make sure you post an update!! I know two others who ran the race today and had great days!

Mel-2nd Chances said...

Good luck!!! Looking forward to hearing how well you do!