Apr 10, 2007

race strategy!

i am a girl with a plan. a race plan to be exact. its not my plan ... i don't ever have plans ... i like to wing it & see how things go (sometimes this works like a charm, sometimes not so much).

but now - thanks to my coach ... i have a plan for the half marathon on the 28th. here's the best part of the plan: my coach is running with me. a week and a half after running boston, he is going to run the mini with me & pace me to the finish. he has announced that he will be my sherpa, carry my GU, get my water ... i am to do nothing but focus on running ... hello, people - how lucky am i?

here's the plan (a condensed version):
  • we need to be near the front
  • miles 2-4 are good for "getting time in the bank", we'll go faster than i am comfortable with.
  • once we hit the park (and the beginning of 3 miles of hills), we'll run steady, but use gravity to really speed it up on the downhills.
  • we'll really hit the gas on last descent (mile 6) we can get a fast mile in on that last downhill coming out of park.
  • then we'll settle into steady pace on the next, flat 6 miles ...
  • at mile 12.5, we'll really kick it in to end & finish strong.

it will be hard ... no doubt - i have in fact already been informed that i'll be praying for race to end ... but having a good friend & coach right there to help me through is the best.

2 comments:

Tall Girl Running said...

What a novel thought, having an actual race strategy! Sounds a lot better than the haphazard run-fast-'til-it's-killing-me-then-run-slow-until-I-stop-gasping-for-breath thing I've got going.

Where does one find a running coach anyway? As Napoloen Dynamite would say, "Luucky!"

zanne said...

haha!! this is so hysterical as that is almost word for word, what my race plan always used to be ... that, or the very vague: don't go out too fast & finish strong. whatever happened in between = total crapshoot.