Farewell, 2014

Happy New Year’s Eve, Eve! It seems most bloggers are reflecting on the year behind them and goals that were met/not met, but since I started this little blog of mine a mere three months ago, I don’t really have anything to go on…Instead, I’ll pick up on the other part of the year-end tradition… Goals for the next year.

Boston. Are you sick of hearing this yet? If for some reason, Phoenix doesn’t happen for me, I’ll have plenty of time to find another race before September and give it another whirl. I am confident, however, I’ll be toeing that start line in 2016.

Race more and have fun with it. I only ran two races in 2014. And they were both serious. This year, I’d like to race more and just have fun with it. I love to race and to be out in the crowd, but not every race needs to be a goal race. Flagstaff has great local races in the summer time, and Phoenix has TONS of races. So, I’d like to toe more start lines this year.

Race a distance that’s new to me. This won’t be hard. I’ve raced the marathon, the half marathon and ONE 5k. There are loads of opportunities to race something new. I’d like to try a 10k and a 15k specifically, which shouldn’t be difficult at all.

Try a trail race. I’ve only raced on roads, and I live in a trail running Mecca. I spend a lot of time on trails, and I’d like to try a race on one this year.

Listen to my body. I usually go through phases of high mileage when I’m training, and then next to nothing when I’m not. Instead of falling back into that pattern this year, I’d like to maintain a good amount of base mileage, even if I’m not training for anything. In order to do this, I’ll need to really listen to my body and make sure I’m taking care of myself.

5 minute plank. This is really a reminder that I need to be less lazy with ab work. I’m terrible at planks and never last long, so this is a goal to continue to improve that.

I think that about wraps up the running-related goals for the next year. Goodbye 2014. 2015, let’s hit it!

Fiesta Bowl Half Marathon: Let’s Talk Goals

Monday, I was driving Jeff to work and he asked me what my goal was for the race this weekend…and I realized I didn’t really know.

I ran the Fiesta Bowl Half once before–in 2011. It was my first race ever, and I was running the PF Chang’s RNR Marathon four weeks after. I can’t say it was something I trained for, since I had already run a 20 miler in anticipation of that first marathon.

(I thought I had photos from that half but apparently not….I trust you can use your imaginations)

It went perfectly fine. I ran a steady, easy pace. I had been training at around 9:00 min/miles since I wanted to break 4 hours on the marathon (I didn’t), so I ended up running an 8:20 pace and felt good. It made me excited about the marathon and it was a really fun experience.

Sunday will be Half Marathon #3 for me, and I’ve never really trained for a half before. The only one that I can kind of say I did was last October (2013) when I ran the Halloween Half in Peoria. But, I didn’t truly train for it. I upped my milage to be sure I could run it, but I didn’t do any kind of speed work, or hard runs. There were some extenuating circumstances, and while I made sure my long runs got done, that was about it.

I ran as a pumpkin. Because, Halloween.

Anyway, I ended up running that race at a 7:50 pace, finishing in 1:42. A huge PR from that first Fiesta Bowl where I ran a 1:52. It was a small race, so I finished 6th overall, 4th female and 1st in my age group. Not bad for barely training.

As I get ready to run this Sunday, I have a few things running (ba dum bum) through my head. I want to use this race as a gauge for how my marathon training is going. I have about 10 weeks of training before the Phoenix Marathon, so still quite a bit of time to work on certain issues.

So, let’s talk goals for Sunday.

“A” Goal: Run Sub-1:40 (and PR)

I definitely think I’m capable of this. I’ve trained hard and I feel good about how things are going. I think running a sub-1:40 is not out of reach.

“B” Goal: PR

I’ll take PR-ing under any circumstances. Even if it’s by running a 7:49 pace 😉

“C” Goal: Run smart and run strong

At the end of the day, this race is to see how training is going and to identify any problem areas that I may need to focus on in the coming weeks. Running well is a priority. The other things are superficial and ego-driven, and, really, the big goal is getting to Boston and I have 10 more weeks to work to get in shape for that.

So, that’s what I’m going into the race on Sunday thinking. Now, I just need to figure out what I’m going to listen to, and what I’m going to wear. You know, the important things.