Marathon goals
In 48 hours I'll be running my 3rd marathon! I *think* I've moved past the "freak out about every small detail" phase of taper and into the "excited to give it all I have and accept whatever happens along the way" phase. The weather is looking pretty solid, and my lingering niggles from this cycle seem to be clearing up. So I feel ready to talk goals! A goal - 3:45. This is a stretch, and I won't start out pacing for this time, but it's always nice to have a reach goal if everything is going right. B goal - under 3:50. I think this should be doable as long as I run smart and nothing crazy happens with the race conditions. (Right now weather.gov is saying low 40s - mid 50s and sunny during the race). My plan is to start out at this pace, and try to come into the half between 1:55 and 1:53:30. The goal is to negative split the second half and get a 3:48-3:46, but I know I'll have to be smart about when I pick up the pace, and back off if that pace feels tough early. C goal - under 4:00. This was the goal when I signed up for this race back in January, and if I don't feel great on race day I'd still like to target this time. But I think with a 1:41 half I am capable of running faster. D goal - finish. Because marathons are hard, and are are always an accomplishment.
