I can’t believe the Runner’s World Half & Festival is THIS weekend. Whoa. It really snuck up on me. I feel like I had weeks and weeks to train for it, but now it’s just days away. Yikes.
Man, I hope I’m ready for the Hat Trick. I haven’t run that many miles in years. If you’re unfamiliar with the Runner’s World Hat Trick, it’s a 5K and 10K on Saturday and a half marathon on Sunday. That’s a lot of miles in one weekend!
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Two of my favorite running bloggers””Monica and Abby””recently wrote posts about setting race goals, so I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want to achieve at the Runner’s World Festival this weekend.
Since I’m running three different races in two days, Monica suggested having a game plan and prioritizing the races. She said I should set smart goals for each race””not necessarily related to time””and keep in mind tired legs since I need to make it through 13.1 miles after running 9.3 miles the day before.
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That said, here’s my tentative game plan for the Hat Trick:
- 5K: Finish without stopping to walk. Have fun!
- 10K: Slow and steady. Save legs for half marathon. Have fun!
- Half: Finish in one piece!
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As Abby said in her blog post: Anything can happen on race day. For instance, I could have the perfect day, feel awesome for the entire 13.1 miles, and smash my current half marathon PR. Or I could wake up to pouring rain and GI issues and barely make it across the finish line. Anything can happen, which is why a lot of runners set A, B, and C goals for race day.
With this in mind, here are my A, B, and C goals for the half marathon:
- A: Finish under 2 hours.
- B: Run the entire race without walking.
- C: Finish the race in one piece.
These goals sound do-able, right? I sure hope so!
I am getting really excited about this weekend! (I leave on Thursday morning for Bethlehem, PA.) The Runner’s World Festival has a ton of fun events to attend, celebrity runners to meet, and I get to see a bunch of new and old blog friends, so it’s going to be quite the wonderful weekend! I can’t wait!
Questions of the Day
Do you set A, B, and C goals for yourself?
If not, how do you go about setting race goals for yourself?
Any last-minute advice for running multiple races in one weekend? I am sort of freaking out.