Thank you to those of you that suggested I have a marathon in my future. Your belief in my running ability is greater than my own! I'm just not there yet. I'm not saying it won't happen, but I'm not ready to say yes either.
The biggest issue is dedicating the time to training. There is a big difference between 2 hour training runs and 4+ hour training runs! I know it can be done and schedules can be worked out, but I just don't want to do it at this point.
My second biggest issue is that I have yet to finish a 1/2 and feel like I have another 13.1 in me. I know training would help with that, but see above paragraph. Lastly if I had to stop running tomorrow and never do another race I could do so without regretting not having run a marathon. If I start feeling like my running life is incomplete without 26.2 then I'll do one. Until there is a compelling reason though, I'm happy to cap it at 13.1.
So what is my running goal then? A little backstory first...I mentioned Saturday that I had an awesome run with Sky. I totally expected it to suck. My legs were sore from having just done 70 squats, I always run slower when pushing the stroller, and my music was dead. I wasn't planning on pushing the pace since felt like my legs were still recovering from the last 1/2.
Imagine my surprise when I got home and took a look at the splits and saw that I was a full minute to minute and a half faster than my normal stroller running pace. No wonder it felt so hard!
Finishing a 3 mile stroller run in 28 minutes made me realize I can do so much better than my current 5K PR! I had already been thinking 2014 would be the year to go for a BIG 1/2 PR, so I'll just add in a 5K PR as well!
Here's what I'm going for:
-5K - St. Paddy's Day 5K - 25 minutes with a stretch goal of 24 or less (current PR 27 ish). Depending on how it fits into the training schedule/camping schedule I may do the 4th of July 5K as well. It's a downhill, point to point crazy PR course!
-1/2 Marathon - Tacoma Narrows Half - 2:15 with a stretch of 2:10 (current PR 2:20 ish). The understanding with this one is since it's early August, and heat can be an issue, that if it's hot I will abandon a PR attempt since I have a history dehydration and all but blacking out when it's hot. If it's too hot I'll just aim to go slow and finish or let someone else run instead. I love this course and felt awesome when I ran it this year. I really feel like I have a big PR (previous 1/2's have been run injured/heat issues/or hard hilly course) I know I can shave significant time and this is the course to do it on!
I'm a let's have fun runner, if I don't enjoy it then it's not worth doing. So, you won't catch me doing speed workouts, or hitting the track (I despise both!). But, I will focus on form, cadence and pace, and working for it from start to finish. I start slower than I need to, and need to focus on leaving it out on the course...I have more kick at the end than I should. It's going to be challenging, but I'm excited just thinking about it!
Since I can't seem to post without sharing pictures of Sky here are a few from play time at Frog n Kiwi this morning:
She seems to always be climbing and jumping. The cast didn't slow her down much from either activity and now that it's off it's even worse!
Do you set yearly running goals?
I do, it keeps me motivated and gives me fresh challenges.
How far ahead to you set your race schedule?
I look as far ahead as possible. I want the opening day registration discounts!
Speed work, Yes or No?
No, never, ever, ever. A friend of mine has a coach that says "speed kills" I wholeheartedly embrace that thinking and avoid speed training at all cost. If I naturally speed up because I'm running more (which happens by the end of every training cycle for me) and/or running more efficiently then great.
No comments:
Post a Comment