Despite the fact that this has been a truly crappy week in training (ran three times and tried to run two other times and gave up... the 12 km I ran last week-end felt easy but it took something out of me - or perhaps it was the two 100 km+ weeks that preceded it) I am ready to commit to some goals for my major race of the season, a half marathon in two weeks time. When making goals, I like to make an A, B and C goal. The A goal is something I am likely not going to achieve unless the stars REALLY line up for me, I have a tailwind, amazing air quality (I have asthma) and I take a short-cut :); typically I don't expect to achieve my A goal. Conversely, my C goal is something that if I do not achieve, something has gone really wrong. Finally, the B goal is something that is do-able but challenging. So here we go:
A goal: run sub-1:20, 1:19:59 will do. This has been a lifelong goal. As I said, not likely to happen especially since this course is a straight point to point along the coast i.e. hard to find a short-cut!
B goal: run an all-time PB i.e. sub 1:20:51.
C goal: run a post-pregnancy PB i.e. sub 1:23:53.
I have two non-quantitative goals, the first of which is to run a smart race meaning well-paced yet responding to the race around me as it develops. Example, if there is a pack travelling slightly faster than I had planned on going, I should adjust and try to go with them for the benefit of "getting on the bus" (this course is notoriously windy... actually this city is notoriously windy - I bet if you google "wind, city, Italy" you can figure out where I live - though there have been tons of other clues).
My second non-quantitative is to win. As I have said in a previous post, I don't normally care about placement because it is so subjective unless one is racing at the highest level BUT it is a big deal to my club if I win (plus, yes, winning is lots of fun and an ego boost, no doubt about it). But I will not sacrifice running a faster time for the win. I have NO idea whether I can win or not, there are certainly local people who are faster than me, and there are certainly invited foreign athletes coming (but am not sure if any of them are female half-marathoners). Anyway adding "winning" to my list of goals gives me five goals, so surely I can accomplish two out of five.
Blah blah blah, enough of that, is anyone else dying to know whether SLG broke 1:30 today?
She did 1:31:01, but it was a long course.
ReplyDeleteNow, off I go to Google windy cities in Italy.
For what it has worth, if you lived in Denmark, you would win every single race I have been in (except maybe the 6 hour run... though who knows), including yesterday's with almost 3000 people! The woman's winning time was 1:26, though the course was long, as Steve Q pointed out, but you still would have won. So if you ever need to reach a qualitative goal, just pay us a visit
ReplyDeleteno 6 hr race for me, the longest i have run since getting pregant is 2 hours, and that was yesterday and it killed me. i am beginning to question the marathon in september!
ReplyDeleteglad to hear you are persistent in your belief that the course was long, sure sounds like it to me!
Piccola,
ReplyDeleteI have to wonder why I wrote "for what it HAS worth" in my comment to you. What does that mean? Anyway, thanks for trying to map the course for me. I started doing it, too, and had to give up for the same reason. Those bridge tunnels are tough to map.
I just love your picture of la cocotte e la sua amica. It makes me so happy. The way that she sits there happily caring for her doll friend. Oh, it is too much. I am melting.