Well, not really. Of course I want to PR this spring. The real question is.....by how much?
I ran a personal record time in the half marathon in November - a 1:58:26. That was a whopping 13 minutes of my previous best time and the result of about 5 months of kick butt training. I worked harder than I knew I could and I relished in it. The work paid off. It took a second attempt and other 2 months of training, but I was able to take my previous best time of 2:15 (Nashville 2010). My first attempt didn't go as I hoped and I ended up with a disappointing time of 2:11 (Air Force 2010). I worked hard for another 2 months and pulled out the PR I'd been hoping for - with another 90 seconds to spare!
A good friend (and running buddy) of mine suggested we shoot for a 1:50 in May. At the time it seemed like an awesome idea. Ever since running the Disney marathon in January, I've been tired. It has definately taken a while for me to get back on my game. Only in the last week or two have I felt like I can get back to really training, versus just running for fitness. There are 12 weeks until my target PR race - the Capital City Half Marathon in Columbus, OH. That 1:50 is a really, really lofty goal.
I just don't think I have that kind of pace in me - not for 13 miles. I'd have to aim for about an 8:20 per mile pace. I can barely maintain that pace for a 5k. I started playing around with some numbers in the Runner's World Smart Coach tool and I think I found a happy medium. I printed up a 12 week workout schedule for a 1:53 half. That's a 5 minute PR (should I pull it off) and brings me within range of a 1:50 half with further training. Little pieces at a time, right?
No comments:
Post a Comment