America's Finest City Half Marathon Goals

If you've been around my neck of the InterWebs for an extended period of time, you've likely noticed I run my fair share of races... but I don't race them... I would say 95% of the races I participate in are "for fun". I am running them with friends, to experience a new city, because the race medal is pretty, etc, but racing them for time is never a huge priority for me.

Well, I'm a little nervous to say, but that will change for this Sunday's race... America's Finest City (AFC) Half Marathon!

You see, most of the marathon training plans I have used thus far reference a "half marathon race" sometime during the plan but I've never had a race actually line up with the appropriate weekend so I normally just go out and run a fast 13.1 miles somewhere locally. When I noticed my "half marathon race" for my Ventura Marathon training plan lined up perfectly with AFC I had to look into it! Can you believe this is the 41st year of the race and I've never done it before?!

Seeing as this race will be a benchmark for my marathon, I want to go in with a few goals... but necessarily numeric ones.

Source

Beat Yesterday

Like I mentioned, I don't "race" races very often... and, actually, the last time I raced a half marathon was last June. That particular race didn't end up going according to plan so my current PR (personal record) is still from two years ago at the Fontana Half. That PR is 1:38:38 - which equates to 7:31/mile. Since my goal for the Ventura Marathon come October is to run 26.2 miles with an average pace of 7:37/mile, I am hoping that this weekend's race will bring with it a shiny new PR.

Be Brave

Because I know that numbers, times, paces, etc aren't everything, I will be okay if I don't run away with a PR. With that said, I do want to do my best to "be brave" for the entire race. That means giving it my all even when it gets hard or when I'm scared it will blow up in my face. Running fast isn't comfortable, and I want to be comfortable getting uncomfortable. Despite what the clock says when I cross the finish line, I want to know that I gave it my all and left it all on the course.

Smile

I feel like whenever I share my goals I normally end with 'crossing the finish line healthy and with a smile', but it's not just a default or automatic answer. I really do love running. It brings me a ton of happiness and makes my heart smile. And if there is ever a time that I start to lose that love and enjoyment, then I know something is amiss. Don't get me wrong, I realize it isn't always easy and every run isn't rainbows and butterflies, but once I lose the joy I know I'm definitely off kilter.

I know there are only a few days left before the race, but if you are local or will be in the San Diego area on Sunday, August 19th, and still want to run AFC, use code "CARLEESFINEST" to save $10 on your half marathon registration!

What goals are you currently chasing down?