Last week before NYCM, I wrote a post about my marathon time goals. Let’s do that again, eh?
GOALS
Let me start out by saying that I don’t understand at all when people have bad races and then say they were thinking they let people down. I’m not sure anyone’s ever thought “Wow, I’m really disappointed in her for not meeting her time goal.” Should I not meet these goals, I’m only letting myself down.
But I’m prepared to have a great race.
Let’s do this backwards. Last year, I had 4 time goals, as it was my second marathon, and I knew I’d gotten faster but I wasn’t positive what my body could do. This year, let’s do some time goals and some non-time goals.
Time Goals
C Goal: PR from last year’s 4:19:56 at NYCM. That was a 9:55 pace, and I’ve been training around a 9:30 pace. As long as I have a decent race, I’m pretty sure I got this one.
B Goal: 4:09. This is a 9:30 pace, so I’m fairly confident in this one, too.
A Goal: Sub-4. (Or bust.) This has been my goal the entire training cycle, and I’m not positive how realistic it is right now, but I’m still going to try.
Non-Time Goals
Negative split. I’m usually terrified of not having enough left, so I start off a little slower and then pick it up. I know some people are afraid of “not having enough left in the tank,” but I’m afraid of starting off too fast and then flaming out.
Finish strong. I’d love to finish feeling as awesome as I felt at NYCM last year, but I will crawl over that finish line if I have to.
MCM RECAPS
I tweeted and asked for your MCM recaps, and you delivered! Below find some recaps I plan on reading and re-reading today and tomorrow. If you have one, please link to it in the comments, and I will update this post with your links.
Lauren from Health on the Run (who, holy shit, crushed this race at 3:18:09)
Spectating recaps from Jess Runs, who’s also running it this year. 2010, 2011. If you’re spectating, these might help you.
A recap from Gwennie Pie from 2008
LET’S DO THIS. If you’re doing MCM, what’s your goal? Any sub-4-or-bust advice?