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Friday, April 29, 2011

Broad Street Run Goals

On Sunday I'll be running the Broad Street Run in Philadelphia, along with 29,999 of my closest friends.  I'm pretty excited about it.  I've heard it's a great atmosphere and the course looks fast (net downhill, flat or downhill the majority of the way).  Plus it stays on the same street the whole time, so I don't have to worry about my poor tangent running skills.

I like the way this looks

I haven't really trained specifically for this race, but I'm hoping that I've done enough over the last five weeks to maintain the fitness and speed I established during National Half Marathon training.

The last time I ran a 10 miler was over a year ago, so I'm looking to smash my current PR.  This will be my first time setting ABC goals, so hopefully this is something that works for me!

Goals
A: Sub 1:30.  I think this is totally achievable.  I had an official average pace of 9:05 for the National half marathon and didn't hit a rough patch until miles 11&12.  According to my Garmin (which had extra distance), my average pace for the race was 8:58. 

B: A new PR (sub 1:34).

C: Have fun at the largest 10 miler in the country!  I'm hoping I won't have to resort to this goal, but if things aren't going my way early in the race, I'm going to make sure that I still enjoy myself!

With my A goal in mind, my plan is to start right around 9:00 miles and try to lower the pace from there.  I've heard from friends who have run Broad Street before that it is extremely crowded at the beginning.  So I'm not going to worry too much about my pace in the first mile or two and hopefully by the time things clear up a little bit, I'll be warmed up and ready to drop the pace.  I've also decided I'm going to carry my hand-held so that I can avoid the majority of the water stops.  Usually that's enough water for me for 10 miles and at least if I run out, it will be close to the end when (hopefully) the water stops are a bit less crowded.

Good luck to everyone else racing this weekend!  It seems like there are a lot of you!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Broad Street is fun, but it is SOOOOO crowded. You can hardly move through the crowds for the first three miles or so. It is fast and totally flat for the most part but, very, very crowded.

ShoreTurtle said...

Good luck on Sunday. The weather looks good. It should be fun!

amy said...

Good luck! I've heard awesome things about the race. Can't wait to hear your version!

Rachel said...

good luck! i love ABC goals, they always work for me : ) i think you've got that sub-1:30 in the bag!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations!! You ran awesome!!

I still can't find you on FB...