Rock 'n' Roll Philadelphia Half Marathan: Goals

This Sunday I will be running the Rock 'n' Roll Philly Half. I hear they put on some goods races so I'm extra excited to run this one!

It seems crazy to think that just five months ago the ODDyssey Half Marathon was the "big one" on my race schedule. 13.1 miles seemed so crazy. I remember the first time I ran 6.5 miles as my long run in February and all kept thinking when I finished was "there is NO way I can run TWICE that distance!" Low and behold, here I am 6 months later clocking 15+ mile long runs on the regular.

Before the ODDyssey Half in May 2011

The point is, I know that I can finish this race on Sunday, but that doesn't mean I don't plan on making it challenging. My goals are to:

• Set a new PR - in May I finished in 2:01:17 with an average 9:15 pace. I feel pretty confident I can beat this considering I just completed a 10 mile training run last week at an 8:17 pace (with a few water breaks, but still).
• Run a sub-2 hour half - this was my original goal for my first half in May, but because of a massive, MASSIVE hill at the end of the race I ended up having to slow down quite a bit. I wasn't too upset though. I was close enough to my goal and I finished the thing, so it was all good. This time though, I'm coming for the 1:xx:xx finish!

I don't really have more specific goals than that, such as a goal pace time. I'm really just curious to see what I can do. I feel like both my speed and endurance have greatly improved since the spring. This summer I was really able to push my body in ways I never had before. To think that in May I was averaging weekly mileage in the high 20s and now I'm in the mid-40s is just insane to me.

All in all, I expect this to be a great race. The forecast for Sunday is looking spectacular with temperatures in the mid-50s. It's like someone turned on the "autumn" switch last night and all of a sudden sweater season began. I'm also pretty stoked about the expo. I love stocking up on running goodies (as if I need more)!

And, best of all, my full support team will be here: my Mom, sister, and of course Mike, who, even though he's not running because of his heel spur, will be there to see me finish anyway.

Recap to come Sunday!