Back in the saddle?

You are faster than me, and I'm just guessing here- but I'd bet you'll run about 8:30, maybe faster and come in real close to your goal. However- you may want to post this question to Sasha or Paul for feedback. Good luck!!! You'll do AWESOME!! A tip I learned from Lybi & James is making 3 goals for myself at races- Gold, Silver, Bronze- your gold would be under 1:50, then add time on for silver & bronze accordingly. It makes me feel good after races anyway! I think you can get GOLD!!!

Thanks, Christi! I like the gold, silver, bronze concept. I guess I don't feel as fast, because I've been running at an easy pace all the time. I'll be interested to hear what Sasha thinks!

I don't know if I'm faster than you. I have set faster PRs, but they were a long time ago. I don't know if there's any way I could run a 4 hour marathon right now!

Ok, so here's the thing Shauna, you haven't done that many long runs equal to or greater than a half marathon, so your half marathon will feel quite like a marathon in that it will feel like one long race.

That being said, your pace has improved over the past few months and I think that going under 2 hours is possible. I would think that having three goals is advisable, and that it depends on how you tend to race where those three goals should be. How is your training now compared to when you did the Valley of the Sun? Do you like to take risks when you race?

Michelle,

My weekly mileage is much higher now than when I ran a PR at Valley of the Sun, BUT I had just run a 3:54 marathon eight weeks prior. After the marathon, I didn't do anything over 10 or 12 (can't remember) until the half, which was very hilly (I didn't do any hill training). I do like to take risks when I race, but usually not until the second half. I start conservatively, pick it up at 10K, and REALLY pick it up at 10 miles. I would go all out in this race if it won't negatively affect my marathon training.

So long your marathon is a month out or more, you can go all out on the half marathon without issues of overtraining. Any race (or run for that matter) involves risk of injury, but they also give you a true measure of where you are if you race them smartly. I would say that if I were you, I would put 2 hours as your Silver goal, and that you should go for a 1:55 as a gold goal, with 2:05 as a back up. You will likely be somewhere in there, so perhaps go out with a 2 hour pace, and then try to pick it up in the second half.

Shauna,

I think you are going to be suprised at how much all the extra mileage will help you ... you do have a few long runs in there and have been very consistent with your weekly mileage. If I were you, I would run the first 1/2 of the race at a really easy pace (like you did in your 7 miler) and then pick it up at the 6.5 or 7 mile as you feel. I would not be tied to a watch except for the first mile (to make sure you are not running too fast). Go by feel, keep telling yourself that this race is a gage for how well you are doing and don't be too stuck on time.

Is this the Finest City 1/2? If so, you will need to save a little bit for the hill at the end, it is downhill for the first couple of miles and then flat and then the last mile has a hill going up to the park (but this has a lot of spectator support so it is not that bad).

This week, I would run pretty easy, except that tomorrow I would throw in 3-5 "strides" - run pretty fast for 25 secs, recover for 1 min and then do it again. These really help give you a little "leg turnover" but don't cost you anything (e.g., they are not long enough to burn out your legs). Don't do them to exhaustion though, make them smooth and controlled. Do these at the end of an easy run. I don't generally take any more days off before a race, I just run a little shorter and a whole lot slower in the last week.

Good luck!! I will be in Monterey running a 1/2 marathon as well!

Bonnie

Thanks for the help, everyone. Bonnie, this is not the AFC Half. It's nice and flat, with the wind at our backs! I'll see how the week goes and post my goals in a few days. Bonnie, good luck in Monterey!

I didn't run this morning, and I have happy hour plans tonight. I REALLY don't want to skip my run today, so now I have to decide if I will cancel on my friends. On the other hand, is running more important than friendship?? I know, I know, this is why I should run in the mornings!

How about run after happy hour? It might help you drink a little less (not that I am assuming you're planning on getting slammed) and not miss out. Just an easy 5 on the treadmill is better than nothing at all.

Yes, I did think of that. I rarely drink during the week for this exact reason (and a few others). I might just have to suck it up, make it happy HOUR and not happy entire evening with dinner, etc., and do a late run at the gym!

I hope whatever you do this evening will be enjoyable.

About the half this weekend, go with how you feel. I am with Bonnie. Pick a pace like 9 minutes or whatever feels good. I'd probably go for 8:45 because 1) I love going faster and faster as the race progresses and I wouldn't want to use all my energy up at the beginning and 2) I wouldn't want to get too far off a 8:20 pace, so I could break 1:50. So pick a pace for the first half and then try to pick it up if you can like Bonnie said. However, it may turn out that your body is more tired than you think from your wonderful weekly milages. If that's the case, do whatever feels comfortable and remind yourself that the Rock'n'Roll Marathon is where you want to peak and that this race is good training.

And no matter what happens--enjoy your race! I hope you are able to break 1:50. That would be awesome.

Shauna - I've posted some ideas regarding your race on the forum. Regarding alcohol. It is bad stuff, hurts you in a number of ways. Miraculously, although I've grown up in a country that perhaps leads the world in the consumption of alcohol per capita among males (indeed, the Russian word for vodka means "cute little water", and the word for beer means "stuff to drink"), I've been blessed with the wisdom to have never had it even before I found and joined the LDS church. Even though I was a weak kid growing up, and was consistently finishing next to last in my class in nearly all fitness tests prior to when I began to train, I have now trained for 23 years since the age of 11 with the longest break of 3 days, with no injuries that I could not run through, which allowed me to achieve a 2:23 marathon, 4:42 mile, and 15:37 5 K. I am able to handle 120 mile weeks done in 6 days, and recover from hard workouts very quickly, to the point that sometimes I cannot tell by how I am feeling if I've run 20 miles hard or 10 miles easy. At the age of 34 I run equal to or significantly faster on all distances starting from 100 m in comparison to my performances at the age of 18. Although this was not the sole factor in my success, I do not believe I would have been able to achieve this without a strict commitment to stay away from alcohol.