Friday, March 27, 2015

Goals for Clinton Lake Race

Only 18 hours to the Clinton Lake race start!  In my last blog post, I reported my strategy for running the Clinton Lake 30-Mile Trail Run. Basically, I'm going to start slow and keep it slow to the finish. Based on that "take it easy" strategy, here are my race goals fo Saturday. We all need goals, right?

  • Remain uninjured. I only have 4 more weeks to the Illinois Marathon and I can't afford an injury. I need to finish the day standing and ready to train. If things are going poorly, I'll not hesitate to drop out after 10 or 20 miles. 
  • Enjoy the trail with friends. Since I have no pressure to perfrom well, I can relax and enjoy the trail while socializing with friends. That may mean a beer or two during the race. Maybe a veggie burger too! And plenty of eating and drinking afterward. 
  • Get in a long run. With 4 weeks to the marathon, this is a perfect time to finish a long run. Hopefully, an extra long run. Thirty miles of trails will help build endurance. If I keep it easy, I should be able to re-enter training for the marathon after just a few days of rest.
  • DFL. I'll challenge for "dead fucking last" finisher. I'll settle for bottom 10%. I need to lower my UltraSignup ranking! The race cut-off is 8 hours. How about a 7:59 finish?
Care to predict my finish? Can I really contain my competitive nature? Will I race hard and set a PR? Or DNF? Or get that coveted DFL? 

1 comment:

Chris Ⓥ said...

UPDATE: I finished in 8:00:02 (race clock) and 7:59:40 according to my watch (chip timing). I'm happy.