In my fourth running of the 3M Half Marathon (and my 18th overall), the day almost never got started. I was plagued by a foot injury from the week prior and wasn’t sure if I’d be able to start, let alone finish, the race. Spoiler: I finished and it went pretty well!
I can get used to this. Three 3M Half Marathons. Three half marathon personal records. Heading into the race, I wasn’t confident in how the day would shake out. Last year I was in the middle of half marathon-specific training and feeling great. This year I’m coming off of a Half Ironman and some minor surgery that kept me off my feet for a bit. How’d we do? I’ll say this: let it be a lesson to you all who read my race preview and thought I was “being real” with my low expectations. I warned you!
Well it’s January, so you know what that means. The 3M Half Marathon! This will be my third bout with the speedy downhill course. It’s this very race where I have set my two previous fastest half marathon times (thank you, downhill course). So what’s in store for this year?
As is customary, I’ll set a realistic, fairly conservative goal and then back it up with several excuses as to why I don’t think it’s too conservative. Then, once at the starting line, I’ll scrap my entire plan and run as hard as possible to the finish. That’s exactly what happened two years ago. Last year was a bit different wherein I planned the whole time to run as hard as possible.
This year I’m focused on Boston training. I’m looking to put in a solid time, but I don’t think a PR is in the cards this go-round [see above re: goals]. However, since this falls within Boston training, and my training plan says I should run 18 miles this weekend, you’ll find me running home from the finish line to get close to that 18 mile mark. Sick? Yes. What else can I do?
To make matters more interesting, the always-reliable, never-wrong weather forecast shows a race temp in the mid-30s with a 40% chance of rain and a solid 16 mph headwind (the race is point to point from north to south). Don’t believe me?
I love this race because it runs right by my house, and my superwife has rallied our neighbors to come out to cheer me and the other runners on! I can’t wait for Sunday morning! Let’s do this!
AWESOME EDIT:
Per the wisdom of commenter Laura, and verified by Google, there will in fact be a tailwind for the race! Huzzah!
Ah, the sweet, sweet feeling of victory (relatively
speaking). Sunday’s 3M Half Marathon in Austin showcased some ideal weather (and ideal elevation) to set new personal records. It was this race last year where I set my current PR. For me I had the dual goal of beating Colin’s PR, which would inherently set my own new PR. The goal? 1:27:30. The result? Read on.
Well it’s the first race of the year, so I think it’s only appropriate to do exactly what I’ve been doing for the last three years: set sandbagging goals and act surprised when I crush them. You know what? No. Let’s start things off right in 2012. I ran 3M last year and in my preview I humbly hoped to set a new PR of 1:35. Instead I finished just a shade under 1:30 and had to come up with some explanation to all my readers. Not this time.
I’m setting a very aggressive goal for this race. One that I have no real reason to think I can hit. But that’s how it should be, right? My goal is 1:27:30. That gives me a solid 8 second buffer to beat Colin’s PR from a few months ago. What that also gives me is a blistering 6:40 minute per mile pace to follow. If the weather forecast holds, we’ll be in good shape*: high 62, low 44.
I have a small army of amazing friends and family who are going to be out there cheering me on along the course. Don’t worry, I’ve warned them that I won’t be looking too good. I’ll let them know to just pretend I’m a rockstar and let me go on my way.
*and by “good shape” I mean 1 less excuse to lean on.
Ok, here we go. Chicago is behind me, I took an entire week off, and put together a training plan for the remaining Austin Distance
Challenge. From now until mid-February I’ll be focusing on four races with the intentions of pushing the pace and building strength. In order to get there I put together a new training plan. It’s based off of an advanced 10K plan, so there’s plenty of speed and tempo workouts for some early morning punishment. Check out the TRAINING tab to get a look at what I’ll be doing for the next 18 weeks. Wish me luck!
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I’m posting this against my better judgement. Despite the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words”, some pictures leave the viewer speechless. In any this case, I present to you some “early” and “late” pictures from my recent 3M and Austin races. So, without further ado, be warned enjoy.
Ah, the sweet sound of crushing Colin victory. This past Sunday I ran the 3M Half Marathon right here in Austin. Meant to be a tune-up race for the Austin Marathon, I didn’t have a goal when I first registered. That changed last week when I decided to go for a new personal record (1:35:11). Well, the morning of the race that changed to seeing exactly how fast I could run the race (and how close could I get to Colin’s current PR of 1:31:49). How’d things go? Let’s find out!
Well it’s about that time. This Sunday I’m running in the 3M Half Marathon from the north end of Austin to downtown. My original plan up until now has been to run it under control, with no real goal time in mind. Taking it easy would be the smart, responsible, reasonable approach for this tune-up race. For one thing, I have a bigger fish to fry (Austin Marathon) coming up and I haven’t been training particularly hard for a speedy race. So it seems fairly obvious what I should do, right?. Right?
While I’m not training particularly hard for the Austin Marathon on February 20, I have decided to sign up for a pre-race race at the end of January. It will be a good check to see how I’m doing in preparation for Austin, though at only three weeks before, I’m not sure how much corrective action there can be. Anyway, it was a no-brainer considering the starting line is between my apartment and my place of workship*.
