Goals for Annapolis Half Marathon

In 3 days, I’ll be running my 6th half marathon – The Annapolis Classic Half Marathon.  Whoa.

Today I’m linking up at Wild Workout Wednesday with Annmarie at The Fit Foodie Mama, Angelena Marie at Angelena Marie: Happy, Healthy & Balanced, Michelle at Fruition Fitness, and Nicole at Fitful Focus!   Check out their blogs for some great workouts!

[bctt tweet=”Time to share my goals for this weekend’s Annapolis Classic Half Marathon! #annapolishalf #wildworkoutwednesday”]

Goals for the Annapolis Half Marathon

After several weeks of training, I’m finally here – the Annapolis Half Marathon.  This is my last big race of the year and it would be incredible to end it on a high note!

I have a lot of emotions going in to this weekend, but I’m just trying to keep it together, finish my taper and take it easy.  I’ll be putting it all out there on race day!

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Racing Strategy:

Coach Kristy has once again provided me with my strategy for the big race:

• Miles 1 to 5:  stay around 10:10 pace
• Miles 6 to 10: drop closer to 10:00 pace
• Last 5K:  give it all I got!

If I can’t stay within the above range, then I should try to drop the pace a bit.  But if all goes well, this will give me a 2:10 to 2:13 finishing time.

Okay, so can I just say that 2:12:36 is my half marathon PR?  It would be amazing if I’d be able to run this race so well, and it would be a very emotional milestone for me because it would mean that I would be back to where I was over 4 years ago.  If I PR this race, I’m pretty sure I’d lose it…

But since I’m a head case, I can’t think about it too much!  I just have to stay focused and do my best, no matter the outcome.

Fueling and Hydration:

Once again, I’ll be using Clif Shot Bloks for my fuel during the race.  Unfortunately, these gels have been pretty unpleasant to train with this time around because they are harder to chew with the colder weather.  I’m going to do my best NOT to walk when taking my gels because I know that it will cost me time.

The weather forecast looks perfect – cool temperatures and low humidity, what a relief! The funny thing is that I’m not used to running a race when it’s not 80 or 90 degrees and humid, like the Philly 10K, 1/2 Sauer 1/2 Kraut Half Marathon, and Zooma Annapolis 10K.

My Nathan handheld water bottle should definitely do a good job of keeping me hydrated, so I don’t plan to stop at the hydration stops unless I run out of water!  Maybe this will be a really good race for me after all??

Workouts for the Week:

Wednesday 11/11:  Speed workout:  1-mile warmup, 2 miles at 10-10:10 pace, 0.5-mile recovery, 2 miles at 10-10:10 pace, 1-mile cooldown.  This was mentally really tough, but I’m so glad that I made it through!  This time, I did a much better job staying around a 10-minute pace.  Prior to my run, I did 10 pushups and 20 situps for old times’ sake.

Thursday 11/12:  I had a great workout at lunch with Elga.  I did some plyometric jumps and some split lunges, which are still pretty tough for me.  We also did squats and lunges with light weights and worked our triceps.

Friday 11/13:  Started the day with 10 pushups.  Because I didn’t run on Thursday, I ran 4 miles right after work.  I started to feel an unpleasant twinge in my left shin…new pain, but only happens while running.

Saturday 11/14:  First thing in the morning, we went for a 4-mile run.  The Rocky Run 10K was going on at the same time so we saw a lot of people out on the trail.

Sunday 11/15:  My last long training run – 7 miles on the beautiful Forbidden Drive.  One of my friends came along for her first time running the trail.  Thankfully, I felt pretty good the whole way, though my right knee felt stubborn and my left shin did bother again a little bit.

Monday 11/16:  I took it easy – running 3 days in a row can take its toll!  But I just bought The Stick online so now I’ll be using that to help with all the little twinges of discomfort I’ve had with my shins, calves, and quads.

Tuesday 11/17:  4 easy miles – my second last run until the race!

Week 5 Report Card:

This has been a pretty good week of running.  I do wish I spread out my runs better through the week, but I made it through! I’ll be using The Stick to do my best to roll out any kinks I have that could cause trouble during the half marathon.

So for my last week of running before the Annapolis Half Marathon, I’ll give myself an A-.  Pretty good!  Lots of nervousness and excitement for this race, but I need to keep my head in the game and trust my training!

Will you be at the Annapolis Half or 10K this weekend?  Let me know – I’d love to meet!