Revised Illinois Half-Marathon Goals

Now that the race, the Illinois Half-Marathon, is only 3 days away, it's safe to discuss realistic goals. First off, there will be NO new personal bests at this race for me. None. Not even close. Weather looks great, but my training has been way off. Fortunately, no injuries, just a series of bad colds. This race will be a celebration of health and happiness. And a start to my marathon training for the July 31 Jack and Jill's Downhill Marathon.

So, what finish time do I expect?  If I run well, I'm looking at 8:00 pace, so around a 1:45 finish. I think it's a bit of a stretch, but possible. That's a far cry from my 1:32 or better I thought was possible back in December. Oh well, you gotta go with the flow. Do what you can on race day.

Only 95 days to the marathon where I'll attempt a BQ time. My goal for this half-marathon is simply a solid training run at a steady-state tempo pace. If that is 8:00 per mile, fine. 7:50, awesome. 8:10, OK. I want to wake up on Sunday morning feeling ready to tackle marathon training.

PS: No matter how slow I run, I will beat Gregg and the Fat Kid. My two old running buddies are going down!