Tomorrow's Race

As usual, since today is the day before a race, pretty much all I can think about today is running the race. I'm thinking about target paces, weather, what time to leave the house, how to get there, checking out the parking situation, etc. It's times like this that I really appreciate the fact that I ran this race last year. Not only did I run it, but I wore my Garmin, so I can look back and see my splits, the course map, the elevations, etc. Very nice.

Here's what my Garmin recorded as the course elevations:

Looking at this, I'm reminded of how tough the last mile was.  This year I'll be better mentally prepared for it. One difference this year is that the forecast is for more wind than we had last year. That last mile might be into a 12mph wind if the forecast is right. I think it might be a good idea to make sure I keep a little extra for mile 3.

I'm struggling (as usual) with setting race goals for this. Mainly because I haven't been running as much lately. This past couple of weeks have been pretty good, but before that my running was very inconsistent, and non-existent for a while. But I feel like I've shaken off alot of the rust, and I'm ready to see where I'm at tomorrow. I'm nowhere near PR shape, but I feel like I should be able to beat my time of 28:54 from last year's race.

So, for my three time goals I'm thinking (1) beat last year's time of 28:54 (9:19 pace), (2) finish better than 9:00 pace, (3) finish better than 8:45 pace. Based on those three ideas, here are my three time goals for tomorrow:
1. Finish under 28:54 (9:19 pace)
2. Finish under 28:00 (9:02 pace)
3. Finish under 27:00 (8:43 pace)

My gut tells me that I'll probably finish somewhere around 28. So I feel like goal 1 is very achievable, and goal 2 is a good target. If I hit goal 3, I'll be very happy with that.

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