Oregon Race Goals

(I started this yesterday afternoon but am currently laying in my hotel room bed in Oregon!)...

As I sit here waiting for Brenda to pick me up for our road trip to Oregon, with my suitcase, cooler, pillow and running bag piled up beside me at the door, I am reflecting on Sunday's run. I have three goals for the race.

The first one, easy enough, is to run a personal best. I would hope to do this each time I run a half marathon race, at least for another few years, when I start to hobble rather than run. My Vegas race in December was a disappointing 2:29 minutes, which I attribute somewhat to a slower pace that the altitude difference enforced upon me. In the back of my mind, I would like to see a 2:15 on the clock. I've run it in 2:20 on a couple of occasions, so a 2:15 would give me the PB that I'm looking for.

The second goal is about pacing myself. I would like to see my first half split to be a slower pace than the second half. Ideally, I should be able to conserve my energy to turn it on in the second half. I think this is part of what went wrong in Vegas. I had so much energy and adrenaline, and just felt soooo good starting out that I ran through my first 10 km with speed and ease, and then burnt out in the last half. I will be making a concerted effort tomorrow to keep it nice and slow through the first 10 km.

And, finally.... I plan on having fun, soaking up the amazing energy that is present at races like this one, and reveling in my commitment and accomplishment!

Now, it's off to the Expo we go to pick up our race kit and lots of free goodies!