So two weeks ago I declared my goals for the NJ Half Marathon and then last week I declared I was chickening out. I’m so happy I took the pressure off because now I’m dealing with a different set of circumstances.
So the perfect weather forecast for Sunday’s NJ Half Marathon just changed to the not-so-perfect-weather forecast! I swear when I checked yesterday it said partly cloudy and 49 low with 61 high. No wind and no precipitation. And now…
But the 100% chance of rain is only part of my concern because as i type this I’m alternating between sitting on a heating pad and then an ice pack to try and calm down my sciatic nerve.
I’m just going to have to wait until Sunday morning to see how this all plays out. One thing’s for certain…I’ll be crawling across crossing the finish line with a smile.
What do you do when things start to go haywire the days leading up to a big race?
First, with today being the anniversary of the Boston Marathon bomings, and with Monday being this year’s Boston Marathon I thought it would be the perfect time to share this opportunity for you to feel the intense passion my friend Roger has for running and for helping find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis.
Roger in Wyoming on his self-declared “Boston Strong” day. We all wore blue to support the Boston victims
The short version is Roger lost 113 pounds in 9 months to run the Boston Marathon and raise money to help support Team Boomer and the important research being done to conquer Cystic Fibrosis.
Roger’s niece Julia has CF and while Roger was morbidly obese and could barely breathe he realized that his niece was also struggling to breathe. But he had a choice to remedy that. He’s been a force like no other I’ve yet to meet in my life. You must go here to donate if you can. He chooses one marathon a year to be his big fundraising effort and this year it’s Big Sur.
Here’s his amazing video:
Best of Luck to you Roger and I can’t wait to see photos from the race! Big Sur is a sight like no other.
____________
In other big news Duncan got his stitches out yesterday! Yippee!
And I’ve been eating too many Peanut M&Ms.
There is no such thing as sharing. I don’t share my Peanut M&Ms
I was feeling rather sore in 2 spots after the Love Run, my left calf and my right piriformis. So I didn’t run at all on Monday and Tuesday. But Wednesday and yesterday I ran about 4 miles each at an easy pace.
Wednesday easy 4
Thursday easy 4
My calf still feels a bit achy and i’m actually planning to get in my long run later today, so i’ve been wearing a compression sleeve, and massaging and foam rolling it, and using ice/heat too. After today, I’ll most likely take a few days off completely.
____________
NJ Half Marathon Goals
So now I’ll tell you about my goals for the NJ Half Marathon in 17 days. I was going to keep them a secret but something compelled me to share. First of all, after 3 years running the full at NJM, this will be my first time running the half there.
Setting my marathon PR at the NJ Marathon in 2014
The last 2 races (Cherry Blossom 10 miler and Love Run Half Marathon) I’ve kept a 10 min overall pace with plenty of splits between 9:37 and 9:45. And I was completely in control of my breathing the entire time. I’d probably consider these tempo runs. So, I have decided—barring any injury or crappy weather on race day—that I want to push myself and try to keep a 9:45 pace for the entire race and finish sub 2:10. I’ve run about 35 half marathons in my life ranging in time from 2:05 to 2:54 and only 3 of those were sub 2:10 (2:05:03, 2:07:54 and 2:09:18) So if I can keep to a 9:45 pace I can finish in 2:08. I know it’s going to be tough but I want the challenge. And this course is not only flat, but I know every turn like the back of my hand having run the full marathon 3 years plus doing multiple training runs on the course. I’m not going to be devastated if I can’t achieve this goal but I’m excited about trying 🙂
What or who inspires you?
Any fun weekend plans?
Will you be watching the Boston Marathon on Monday?
Recent Comments