Changing Race Goals

Daily Quote: "Goals have never been good to me. At least not the types of goal setting that athletes are asked to do: Aim for the stars; your reach must exceed your grasp; if you don't dream it, you can't do it." --Joe Henderson

My new goal is to run the "Las Vegas Rock n Roll Half Marathon" rather than the full marathon on December 5th.  My body, particularly my right hip flexor, has not been adjusting to marathon training very well.  I can handle the shorter speed sessions, but on the Long Run my right hip flexor breaks down.  My current training experience is that I can handle distances up to 16 miles, but after that my hip becomes too painful to safely continue.  I should be able to handle the shorter training distances for a half marathon.

The Las Vegas valley has had the hottest and longest summer on record, which caused me to stay on the treadmill until October!  Normally by early September my training has started on the roads as to allow my body to acclimate to the unlevel and harder surfaces.  I tried to adjust to the roads too late and believe that my body won't be ready for a full marathon by December.  The shorter distance of a half marathon will allow my body enough time to train on the roads with the shorter mileage training for a half marathon.

This year I'm running the "Las Vegas Competition Series," which had me running races more often than I have in the past.  The Las Vegas Championship Series is 12 events, one per month (except for April, with two races in March). Two "wild cards” allowed. Scoring based on points accumulated from “best” 10 events. I'll only be able to complete nine events this year due to my hip injury during the Spring.  I haven't ran a half marathon since Salt Lake City in April 2007 when I set a PR of 1:49:27.  Both the Las Vegas Marathon and half marathon are part of the Las Vegas Track Club Competition Series where I'm currently in 10th place with two more races left in the series.  Changing my race goal won't affect my competing in the Las Vegas Competition Series!

Today is my "Tempo Run."  I'll be using the "Runner's World, Run Less, Run Faster" half marathon schedule on page 87.  Since my pace for my last half marathon was 8:20 minutes per mile, my training paces will be set accordingly.

62 degrees. Mostly Cloudy with winds at 10 mph.  Out and back on Jones Boulevard.

1 mile warmup at 10:00 minute miles.
5 miles at 8:20 minutes per mile.
1 mile cooldown at 10 minute miles.

Average heart rate: 151 bpm.  Cardiac Drift: 169 bpm.  Comfortable hard effort with no ill effects on my body!  I feel confident that my upcoming half-marathon will be a success!!