Race Goals for Tomorrow's 5k

I've got a 5k race on the calendar for tomorrow, which means it's time to set some race goals!

Tomorrow's race is "Run the Rails," and it benefits a local school district's scholarship fund. It seems like a timely cause considering the financial challenges many area school districts are struggling with right now.

I didn't run this 5k last year, and I've never run near the race course, so it's a good opportunity to explore a new area. The weather forecast is looking good, albeit a bit warmer than I'd prefer - should be sunny and mid-70's at race time. As for the course, most of it winds through a park area along paved walkways, and it looks to be pretty flat. So conditions seem right for a good run.

So now to write out a few goals. Here goes:
1. Beat my time from last month's 5k of 28:23
2. Finish under 28:00
3. Finish under 27:00

I have to say that I'll be disappointed if I don't beat last month's time. When I ran that 5k, I had only really been back to running for less than 2 weeks after about 2 months of almost no running. Since then, I've been running very consistently four times per week. Also, tomorrow's course is much flatter. Last month's 5k was up-hill for the entire mile 3, which can be (and was for me) mentally and physically defeating. Tomorrow I can pace myself without being concerned about tackling a hill at the end of the course.

As for goals 2 and 3, those are the same as goals 2 and 3 for last month's race, which I didn't achieve. So, why not try again?

A Day at Sea World as Seen by Garmin

Our family went to Sea World in San Antonio over the Memorial Day weekend. Since I was planning to run a couple of times over the long weekend, I had my Garmin Forerunner 305 with me. Being the technology geek that I am, I decided to wear my Garmin to Sea World on Monday to see how much walking I did over the course of the day (4.5 miles).

Well, one cool thing about the Garmin is that it keeps track of your location and lets you plot your course on a map. The picture below shows our day at Sea World.

But even more fun is to follow the link to the player, which has play/pause controls that let you watch an icon trace our course.  Bonus points if you can tell me which ride we rode three times in a row!

LINK TO PLAYER

Marathon Training - Week 4 of 30

Today I made it official and registered for my first full marathon! Now that I have money riding on this, I really have to follow through! 


So, here's the training schedule for this week, which is week 4 of the 30-week schedule:

• Monday - scheduled rest
• Tuesday - 3 mile run
• Wednesday - 4 mile run
• Thursday - 3 mile run
• Friday - scheduled rest
• Saturday - 5k race
• Sunday - 1 hour walking

Last week's training went great. The most challenging day was Saturday. Not just because it was the longest run (5 miles), but because I was traveling and on vacation - two things that make it more difficult to get in a run. Traveling adds to the challenge because I'm in an unfamiliar area and there's always the chance that I may not have packed all of my running gear. Also, being on vacation means I want to stay up late and sleep in. But I'm proud to say that I sucked it up and grinded out the 5 mile run on the hotel treadmill. By the way - running on a treadmill is NOT my thing at all. If running on a treadmill was my only option, I would not be a runner. Part of the appeal of running for me is being out and about, exploring. 


Happy National Runner's Day!