Half Marathon this Sunday!

This Sunday is the Chilly Half Marathon and my first "race" of 2010. (I'm not forgetting about that little thing called the Goofy Challenge, but this is the first event of the year where I intent to race for a PR.)

I first ran Chilly in 2008 (back in my days of getting 2 comments on a race report!) and volunteered last year.

Finish line, '08:


Practicing chip removal, '09:

I'm actually not a really big fan of this event; they've been known to have organizational issues (ran out of shirts and bags last year, women's shirts not available on time this year) and it's over-priced (you can run a marathon around here for the cost of this half). That being said, the timing works out great and it's a flat and fast course. This year they've changed the route to an out-and-back and for the first time, the entire road will be closed for runners. I generally don't mind out-and-back races and I'm hoping it will be beneficial to my mental game. If nothing else, I hope that it gives me the opportunity to see several familiar faces along the way.

Unfortunately this is the third year in a row that Hubs has registered for this race and not been able to run. In 2008 he was injured, in 2009 he was out of the country on business and this year he's injured again. :( I know he would love nothing more than to be running on Sunday, so when I'm tired and hurting at 10 miles, I'll remind myself to suck it up and be grateful that I'm able to run.

Goals:

A. (I hope I can): sub-1:50:00

B. (I think I can): PR sub-1:52:29

C. (I know I can): Event PR sub-2:01:00

I've been going back and forth between feeling confident and terrified. Hopefully my training will come through for me on Sunday and I will feel strong both mentally and physically out there.

In my heart, I know I can do this. In my brain, there are seeds of doubt.

Here goes nothing!