Round 2 with 13.1

In 6 days I’m going for Round 2 with 13.1 miles in Baltimore. And I’m just as scareddd (maybe more) as the first time for many reasons.

1)      Because this is my second half marathon everyone expects me to do better (including myself)

2)      Last time I missed my goal by just over 1 minute… that was depressing. I’m keeping the same goal (2:15) and really want to beat it.

3)      I am running this one solo… and there aren’t pacers. This one scares me the most. No friend to run with AND no pacer to keep me slower in the beginning so I don’t kill myself with speed in the beginning. I do not enjoy checking my garmin every 2 minutes but I guess that’s what I’ll be doing to keep myself on track. It just makes for a much less enjoyable run. Also all of my long runs have pretty much been with running buddies, so I’m used to the company and someone else pushing me.

4)      Time + Weather… The half starts at 9:45am… ugh. I’m used to running at 6 or 7am. Who knows what the weather is going to be like. And my friend is running the marathon which starts at 8am so I’ll have a lot of time to kill… and get even more nervous!

Running is very much a mental game for me so I’m trying to not let myself get too worked up. I’m trying to make a plan and repeat it so I don’t get worked up.

Plan:

·         Try to keep a 10 minute pace through Mile 8 and only then pick up the pace if I’m somehow feeling really good (aka don’t start out running 9 minute miles and be dead by mile 4).

·         Use 10 minute miles as my number to calculate goal on… because it’s easy and I get runners brain and can’t do math.

·         Write mile splits for 8, 10, 12 on my arm in sharpie. I know, it’s easy to calculate but I get really dumb when running.

·         Take the Gatorade chews I’ve been practicing with and eat them around mile 7-8. Possibly take Candy Corn in case I need a sugar jolt.

·         Make friends in my starting corral! Be outgoing throughout the race and make friends to keep me going!

Any other tips? 

Sept 2nd after my first Half Marathon