Well, in about 24 hours I plan to be with my Church Running Group celebrating the fact that we finished our 26.2 or 13.1 treks in the Columbus Marathon and Half Marathon. It's been a fun season running with this group on Wednesday evenings.
Although I had not started 2013 planning on running a full marathon, it has worked out that way. Of course when it comes to running, very little goes as planned, so I'm gonna roll with it and hope that tomorrow brings an enjoyable experience.
As with most of my races, I'm going in to this with three goals. My, "I should be able to do this" goal. My, "It would be great if I can do this" goal. Then my, "If the stars and planets align, the wind is at my back the entire way and I get lucky, I can do this" goal.
Goal #1 is simply to finish with a personal best time. Since my best marathon time was back in 2009, and those were both in the 5 hour 30 minute area, I should be able to accomplish that.
Goal #2 is to finish in under 4:30, more than an hour better than my best marathon time.
Goal #3 would be to finish better than 4:20, which would mean maintaining a little better than a 10 minute per mile average throughout the entire race. Ten minutes isn't a real fast time, but for me to maintain it for 26.2 miles may prove a little difficult. Of course, if the start and planets align, the wind is at my back for 26.2 miles (no matter what direction I happen to be running at the time) and I have a little luck...well, we'll see.
I want to wish everyone who runs tomorrow luck in their race. Regardless if you're running 13.1 or 26.2, or start at 26.2 and decide to make that left turn half way through, running that race is no small accomplishment.
We all run for our own reason(s), and to each individual runner those reasons mean a lot. I'll have plenty of time tomorrow to think of my reasons, to focus on my run, my form, my hydration needs, the pain in my legs and everything else. But I'll also have time to think about the reasons others I know are running their race both literally and figuratively, and I want them all to know that, while I'll be thinking a lot about my own race, I'll be thinking about your races too.
Although I had not started 2013 planning on running a full marathon, it has worked out that way. Of course when it comes to running, very little goes as planned, so I'm gonna roll with it and hope that tomorrow brings an enjoyable experience.
As with most of my races, I'm going in to this with three goals. My, "I should be able to do this" goal. My, "It would be great if I can do this" goal. Then my, "If the stars and planets align, the wind is at my back the entire way and I get lucky, I can do this" goal.
Goal #1 is simply to finish with a personal best time. Since my best marathon time was back in 2009, and those were both in the 5 hour 30 minute area, I should be able to accomplish that.
Goal #2 is to finish in under 4:30, more than an hour better than my best marathon time.
Goal #3 would be to finish better than 4:20, which would mean maintaining a little better than a 10 minute per mile average throughout the entire race. Ten minutes isn't a real fast time, but for me to maintain it for 26.2 miles may prove a little difficult. Of course, if the start and planets align, the wind is at my back for 26.2 miles (no matter what direction I happen to be running at the time) and I have a little luck...well, we'll see.
I want to wish everyone who runs tomorrow luck in their race. Regardless if you're running 13.1 or 26.2, or start at 26.2 and decide to make that left turn half way through, running that race is no small accomplishment.
We all run for our own reason(s), and to each individual runner those reasons mean a lot. I'll have plenty of time tomorrow to think of my reasons, to focus on my run, my form, my hydration needs, the pain in my legs and everything else. But I'll also have time to think about the reasons others I know are running their race both literally and figuratively, and I want them all to know that, while I'll be thinking a lot about my own race, I'll be thinking about your races too.
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