goals, a party foul, and a new pair of shoes!

As I have mentioned several times, my 2nd half marathon is coming up THIS SUNDAY!  Yikes!  I'm nervous, anxious, and excited!  I feel infinitely more prepared than I did for my first one which was the Chicago Rock 'n' Roll Half on August 1st. 

This time, I know what 13.1 feels like.  It's far, y'all. 

This time, I'm on my home turf.  Let's hear it for home court advantage!

This time, I have way better endurance.  Yay for training with my running group!

This time, I have set some realistic, achievable goals.

This month's Runner's World actually had an article about establishing goals called "Good Targets".  The article discusses three different possible goals -  one could be just to finish - another could be to PR (or even to PR with a specific time) - and still another could be some performance type goal not related to time.  I read this article thoroughly and really let it sink in.  I wish I had the luxury of just setting a non-time related performance goal, but unfortunately a concern of mine has to be time as this race has a 3 hour time limit which means a PR for me by default if when I finish this race in "legal" time. 

I thought in spirit of this article, however, I should set a goal in each of the categories.

1 - Just Finish!  Seeing as I completed a half marathon already...um...I'm just going to run with faith that this won't be an issue...

2 - Banner Day!  Well, I'm not going to do Runner's World's proposed fancy calculations.  My goal is simple - to PR with a 3:00:00 finish.  This means taking 24:39 off my previous time.  Doable?  Yes.  I'm better trained for this race and I've been running my long runs with an average of a 13:23 pace.  A 3 hour half marathon is an average of 13:45 pace.  Let's just say there is a bit more motivation and a whole lot more encouragement to BOOK IT! during an actual race than a long Saturday (or Sunday) run!  I'm also going to be wearing my Garmin and a pace bracelet to help keep my eye on the target!

3 - Best Effort!  For Chi RnR, I employed my 4 minute run/walk interval method for half the race until I got plagued with the charlie horses and then I power walked the remainder of the race.  In a way, I kinda feel like I gave up.  I'm not going to give up on this race!  Since the 3rd or 4th week of training with my running group, I have dumped the interval method and focused on running my mileage outright - only stopping for water and/or bathroom breaks.  My Best Effort (non-time related performance goal) is to run the entire 13.1 miles with the exception of walking through the water stations (which will be located approx. every 2 miles).  

I know that in order for me to be successful, I must be properly hydrated and fueled.  Here is my plan of action:

Younger sister Linda is going to pass me off G2 (can't make myself drink full sugar Gatorade and still taking Amanda's advice regarding drinking some calories for energy) during the race.  Since I figure I will see them at least twice during the race, I figure that drinking those electrolytes combined with drinking water at each of the water stations should take care of the hydration issue.

Of course, I will be eating a good breakfast before the race - most likely a bagel with almond butter and a banana.  I will be carrying with me a pack and a half of Clif's Shot Bloks.  Truth be told - one pack is probably enough, but I'd rather have too much than not enough.  I will be taking 3 bloks at mile 4, and another 3 at mile 8.  If I feel the need for another boost, I reserve the right to hit it up at mile 11 or 12 - whatever it takes to get me to that finish line IN LEGAL TIME!  =)

So there you have it - my goals and my plan of action!  Oh...I almost forgot my music!  I posted on Twitter and Facebook that I was looking for some suggestions for tunes to add to my iPod.  I got some great ideas and have already started switching out some of my music for some fresh vibes!

I've got this!  I know I do!

Okay, so onto other race related things...I picked up my Race Packet today at Luke's Locker.  Lamest Swag Bag EVER!  There was no swag.  How disappointing is that?!  I mean would it have killed them to get someone to donate a lip balm?!  a granola bar?  a key chain?  something?  anything?  I like to feel a little love when I open up my bag.  I felt nothing.  We don't get our finisher's shirt until we finish (which is totally cool with me), so that bag was way too empty for my taste (bib w/ d-tag and a couple of slips of paper).  Party foul, Houston Half, party foul!

While at Luke's Locker, however, I did decide to let their shoe experts help me *finally*.  You see, when I first bought myself my running shoes (in December), I just got them from the New Balance outlet mall.  While the sales associate that helped me was very nice, she wasn't very knowledgeable (or if she was...she didn't offer up the help) like the dude at Luke's did.  I explained to him the issues I've been having with my feet - pain on the side of my left foot, black nails (oh joy), soreness, and other such issues, and he said he could help.  He measured my foot and had me do a couple of things to determine stuff and brought me out a pair of Brooks Glycerins.  Oh my how I liked the way they fit before he even tied them.  He had me run on the treadmill and then proclaimed they were too short and went and brought me back a half a size up and then a pair of Asics something or another.  He tried the Asics on me first - they felt good and I ran with them on the treadmill.  Then he tried the upsized Brooks on me.  Oh what a difference...I felt like I was running on a cloud.  I had asked him about how to tie them since I sometimes feel like I'm tying them too tightly and they are hurting me and he showed me a new way to tie them.  Sold!  I'm going to run with them tomorrow morning - just 2 or 3 miles - super excited!  

What a difference from my nervous nelly million posts prior to my first half, huh?!  ha! 

Oh...shout out to younger sister Linda for signing up for RunGirl 13.1 (12/12/10)!  Sooo excited to be reunited in race with her as our one and only was back in March with our 10K H.E.B. Bayou City Classic.  Yay!