Philadelphia Half Marathon Goals

by - Thursday, November 17, 2011

The race is officially three days away and I really can't wait for it to get here. For the most part, my training has gone really well and I feel prepared for this race. I'm antsy to get out there and see what I can do.

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Philly last year

But as far as goals for this race, I'm having a hard time establishing them.

I've noticed in my running that when I set goals, I tend to do a million times worse than when I just go out and run for fun without a specific goal in mind. (Remember my crazy six minute PR back in September when I did a race on a whim?)

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Oh hey PR by total accident

When I've gone into a race striving for a PR, I've bonked. When I've gone into a race to have fun, I've set PRs or finished mere seconds away from my PR.

Cherry Blossom 10 Miler

That all makes me really leery to set a goal for this race.

Sure I have one in the back of my mind. There's a time I'd like to beat, but I'm worried that if I focus on it too much, I'll never get anywhere close.

On the flip side, I'm worried that if I don't pay enough attention, that I'll finish a minute or two over my goal time and be annoyed at myself for not trying harder, for not pushing it more and for failing to meet my goal.

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Rocky wouldn't like that

So what do I do?

Do I go out there with my eye on the prize or do I take a more laid back approach and have fun with this race and let my time fall where it will?

I've been agonizing over this situation for days and I just don't know what approach I should take on race day.

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