Tomorrow morning I'm running the Hot Chocolate 15K!


It's my last race of 2011 and I'm hoping to end the race season on a high note.

I have no intention of running this race for time mainly because there are 20,000 people running it and the course is really narrow at parts. That means there's going to be a lot of bobbing and weaving to get around people.

The course also covers that gravely, narrow trail that I despised in my 5K last year, which makes me a little nervous with lots of people.

I hope the organizers are on top of their game because with that many people, parking, the race itself and the finish line areas all have the potential to turn into giant clusters.

If there's massive backup in the finisher's chute that delays me from getting my chocolate, I will be one sad girl.


The chocolate at the finish line was seriously reason #2 I signed up for this race.


Reason #1 was the sweet jacket you get.


Other than being mildly concerned with the logistics with that many people, I think this race is going to be a great time. I have tons and tons of friends who are running it, and many more who are coming out to spectate.

I'm looking forward to going out, having a great, fun run and eating lots of chocolate with all my friends.

I really can't think of a better way to wrap up race season than with some yummy chocolate at the finish line!

All pictures are screen grabs from the Hot Chocolate 15K site.

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.


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?)



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.



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.


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.

Race day is tomorrow!

I'm three parts super excited and one part kind of nervous, but this race is going to be fun.

There's a new course that supposedly cuts out a few of the hills from last year, although I think it still ends with a nasty uphill. Not nice race directors!

The weather is looking pretty good: mid-50s at the start creeping up to the mid-60s by the time I'll finish. The only thing I'm nervous about is the 75% humidity. But still so much nicer than last year, when it was i the mid-70's at the start.

And three of my friends are running this race too!

Do you all remember Tracy from when I ran the NFL 5K back in the fall?



Well this is her first half marathon! Tracy's an accountant and she wanted a challenge to keep her active during busy season, so she decided to train for a half marathon. I have no idea how she did it. I struggle to get my runs in working a normal workweek. She works a million hours during tax season and has no weekends. Seriously I am amazed at her dedication to training and so, so excited for her to race tomorrow.

I'm also excited to catch up with my speedster friend Zach from high school and my friend Ashleigh from UMD who's in grad school in Florida now. She'll probably be loving the cool temperatures on race morning after training in the Florida heat.



Aside from the very social aspect of this race, I'm looking forward to having a strong run.

I know my last couple of weeks of training haven't been the best because of my shoe drama, but that's all straightened out now, and while I missed a couple key runs, I still feel fairly confident going in to this race.

Goals:

Pretty Sure It Can Happen Goal: Finish with a faster time than I did in New Orleans, a race I went into slightly under trained. For folks keeping score at home, that would be break 2:10. Last year I finished this course in 2:12 so I definitely feel I can shave two minutes off my course time.

Middle Reach Goal: Set a new PR. My current PR is 2:07:45 set on a very flat course on a very hot day. We'll see how I do on a fairly hilly course in ideal weather, but I'm come tomorrow I'll have a new PR.

Big Reach Goal: Break two hours. This is obviously a huge reach goal for me this year and I'm just not sure tomorrow is the day this is going to happen. I'm not even really gunning for a sub-two hour finish until the fall, but if the cards fall into place tomorrow and I'm feeling good and can push it hard, then I'll do it.

I'm still debating if I want to line up with the two hour pace group at the start and see if I can hang with them for the race. I'd love someone to push me, but I'm nervous about the pace group going out to fast and then I'll crash and burn at the finish. For now, I think my plan is to just run my own race.

I can't wait for tomorrow to get here, but until then I'll be busy sucking down Gatorade and feasting on carbs!

I can't believe another race weekend is practically here. It kind of seems like it was just the other day that I was prepping for the Philly RnR Half, but that was almost a month ago now.

Time flies.

I'm looking forward to the Baltimore Half for a few reasons.

1. Baltimore is a great city and they always put on a great race.
2. Baltimore is the place I ran my first marathon, so it has a special place in my heart.
3. My mom is coming down to run too.
4. The finish through Camden Yards is awesome.
5. The Gummi Bear Guy near near mile 23 of the full/10 of the half





I'm not however, looking forward to Baltimore's hills. There are lots of them and they aren't small.

I'm running this race purely for fun. It's a cutback week in my training plan, so the distance is perfect for my long run. I won't be pushing it too hard because I want to recover quickly to bounce back in my marathon training.

So my goals for this race are pretty simple:
1. Run.
2. Have fun.
3. Finish feeling strong.

I can't wait for Saturday morning when I'll be standing at another start line! I love racing!

We're officially three days away from the Philly Rock N Roll Half Marathon and the nerves are already setting in.



This training cycle has hands down been my best: I didn't have a single injury (knock on wood); I didn't miss a single run; I actually stuck with my speed workouts for an entire training cycle.

I don't think I've ever been more prepared going in to a race.

Because of that, I'm just piling the pressure on myself that this race must be great. Talk about setting myself up for failure if something goes wrong.

There's a lot on race day I can't control: the weather, the crowds, what's available at aid stations.

But I went into this training cycle with a pretty tough goal in mind. I want to finally break two hours in the half marathon. That means I have to average right around 9:05 per mile. For me, that's pretty fast.

I know I can do it over short distances, and even over middle-ish distances. I don't know if I can sustain that for an entire half marathon.

My fastest half marathon was 2:12:57 set back in May on a miserably hot day on a very hilly course. I was shooting to break 2:10, but fell apart at the end. Philly's flat and hopefully the weather will be better.

Normally, I'm all about going in to a race, having fun and maybe trying to set a new PR.

This time, not so much. It's 1:59:59 or bust.

Come Monday, I hope I'll be able to tell you I succeeded. I've been envisioning a great race. I'm putting together a play list with my favorite motivational songs timed for right when I get to mile 10. I've done all the mental and physical prep work I can.

Now it's just time to race.

Game on.

It's almost race weekend again and I'm going to be getting my last training run in tonight. After that, it's time to trust the training and my legs to carry me through my first half marathon of the season.

Training Review:
My 11 miler two weeks ago went awesome. I averaged slightly under 10-minute miles and felt great until the very end when my piriformis started tightening up. The last two weeks I've only run a handful of times. The first time after the 11 miler was painful. So I rested some more.

My run Tuesday was pain free and would have been great if not for the feeling like I'm about to puke thing. I'm hoping tonight's run will give me a little confidence boost, but I'm fairly certain I can have an awesome race this weekend.

Weather Forecast for Sunday:
Temps in the high 80's
Starting line temp: 67 degrees

I'm actually grateful that the race is starting at 6:30 a.m. We've been having really moderate weather here lately, but this weekend looks to be a scorcher, which could do some damage on my race times. According to the "trusty" weather reports, it looks like it shouldn't be much warmer than 70 by the time I finish. Fingers crossed that doesn't change too much. I'm also hoping there's some shade on the course. 13 miles in the sun could be rough.

Goals:
1. Have fun and enjoy a new race.
2. Break my current PR of 2:14:17.
3. Finish in 2:10.

I plan to carry water and extra Gus with me because I've learned during hotter races, you can't always rely on the aid stations to have everything you need. Plus I don't want to get stuck in huge back up at aid stations. Knowing I have my own stuff gives me the option to pass them if I need to. As much as I hate carrying a water bottle while I'm running, it's the smart thing to do.

As far as race outfit, I've got a super cute new one to debut. I've worn it on some training runs and know it works well. I'll be rocking my new booty shorts (which I'm in love with) and a super cute Under Armour tank.

One more run to go and I'm all set to race!

Bring it on!

Good morning!

We are still getting way above average temps in these parts (high 80's, low 90's), which is certainly making my running interesting.

Yesterday was the first time in ages that I went out for an early morning run before work. Since my commute is so long, I usually have to run after work most days, but on the days I work from home I can attempt to beat the heat.

I didn't get out there super early so the sun was already blazing and I found myself doing a lot of walking, especially on the uphills. It was a slow, hot 4.5 miles, but I didn't totally hate it.

It was also my last training run before the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler this weekend.


So now it's time for some race goals.

First and foremost, have fun! This has been my primary race goal since I started running. I want to cross the finish line smiling and ready to race again.

As far as time goals, I have a few things in mind. The weather on race day looks to be pretty decent for running. About 49 degrees at the start and creeping up to the mid-50's by the time I expect to finish. If that forecast doesn't change, those are absolutely ideal running conditions.

My first time goal is to finish in 1:40:00. That would mean I'd have to average 10 minute miles.

My reach goal is to finish with an average of 9:40 minute miles. After my nine mile run two weeks ago, when I was able to hold that pace and feel strong the whole time, I'm making it an official goal. It's a reach and it would require lots of things to fall into place perfectly, but you never know.

I'm making myself pace bands for both times, using this nifty tool on the Runner's World website because I can't for the life of me do math while running. I've tried. It's not pretty.

I'm super excited to race this weekend. The weather looks to be gorgeous, the Cherry Blossoms will provide some awesome scenery and I'm itching to dive into race season.

For laughs, here's an old school picture of me at the Cherry Blossom Festival my sophomore year of college. I look about five years old.

Well, it's time for the Friday-before-a-race goals post.

To recap, I made a last minute decision to tackle the Beach to Bell challenge this year (running RNR Half in Virginia Beach and the Philly Distance Run two weeks apart) and Sunday is the Philly Distance Run.

Assuming I cross the finish line, this will be the first time ever I have run two big races so close together. (Last spring I ran an 8K the weekend before a half marathon, but I don't really count that).

Two half marathons less than a week apart is no joke for me, but I feel good. My legs feel strong, my runs since RNR have been pretty solid. I'm not expecting to PR Philly. I just want to go and have fun running a new race and tackling a new challenging. I'm pumped to see Ryan Hall start before I have to hustle back to my corral (assuming I'm not in a porta-potty line).

Plus running a race in Philly means I get to spend a weekend at home with the fam. And since I have Monday off from work, I was able to work a post-race massage into my schedule. Excellent!

Really, everything about this weekend is shaping up to be awesome (except for my rush-hour drive home tonight....bleccchh)

So onto the goals:
1. Have fun.
2. See Ryan Hall start (aka, do NOT be in the porta-potty line when the gun goes off)
3. Run a smart and strong race.

No time concerns, no quest for a PR, just a really fun race!

Well here it is people, the post you've all been waiting for (Ok, who am I kidding I'm sure you haven't actually been waiting for this).

With the National Half Marathon being tomorrow, I think it's time I spelled out my goals.

First and foremost, my number one goal is to run this race safely. I've only been running for about two and a half weeks consistently now while getting over this knee thing. So I know I need to run slowly and carefully, paying attention to me knee and walking as much as necessary.

My second goal is to not have a time goal*. Unfortunately however, I found my watch and I think I'm going to run with it, but my goal is to not look at it. I want to run with it so I can post my watch time on the blog instead of waiting for my official time to post. While I'm not going for a PR, I still want to know where I finished.

Lastly and most importantly, I want to have fun. My college roommates are coming to support me and have told me they are making signs. The BF is also going to be there so I'll have a nice little support team. They're going to try to make it to one point on the course and also be at the finish line, but it's an early race and I know they might only make it to the finish. Having people there though is just such a motivating factor, so I'm really really excited for that.

I'm hitting the expo after work today, but forgot to bring my camera so I won't have pictures from that. I'm so angry at myself for forgetting it. I'll have it at the race tomorrow though.

* While I'm not reallllly having time goals, here's how I hope to fair.
2:15 -- My knee gives me no problems, I feel like I'm running on air and I hit mile splits faster than I ever have in a race of this distance. (This is my fat-chance finishing time)
2:16-2:40 -- My knee doesn't really give me too much trouble and I mix walking and running throughout the course and finishing feeling strong.
2:41-3:00 -- My knee doesn't cooperate and I have to walk a lot and I finish feeling like I've been hit by a bus.

I leave you with this photo of me and my college roommates with the signs they made me for Baltimore.