CM Half Hype 1 - Plans

My heart is beating uncontrollably right now, and I've just been lounging in bed. I decided today to go for the Country Music Half Marathon. It's just a bit tempting to sign up for the Full, since it's only $10 more... they really jacked up the Half's price. But I'd just be happy to finish a half, considering the past 6 mo, and there's no way I'd be in full shape by less than three months... maybe only if I risked all kinds of injury by going at last year's rate of mileage increase. So the half... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smwqAqpBslM&feature=related

I'm excited to be traveling up there with a de facto team - 6 so far... make it 7, and we'd have an XC team ;) It'll be great. We'll leave Fri morning, go to the Expo for packet pickup once we get there (I love Expos and schwag - one of my favorite parts of races), hopefully get a decent night's rest somewhere, and then run at 7am the next morning, followed by maybe exploring Nashville a bit and then the big concert that night. It's always funner training for a team, and the comraderie should be fun during the trip.

Already, I'm getting so excited, starting to plan. I love to plan, if you remember all the posts I did leading up to even a small 5K last year, the only race I did in 2008. It's part of the race experience... as the Saucony "We know because we run" ad reads, "26.2 is the short part," or in this case, 13.1. So a million plans are already swimming in my mind, and as I watch highlight videos on Youtube from previous CMM's, my heart's racing.

PLANS...

Many of these questions, I won't answer until maybe a week before the race, when I know more about my fitness and race-day conditions. But here are things I'll be thinking about...

1. Goal time... I really want to break 2:00, because it would be sad to be slower than I was for my first half, which I ran after a 6-week time off from running due to injury, after walking about 4 miles in the previous 4 hours and getting zero hours of sleep the night before. Last year, I was in 1:45 shape, but it'd be tough to get back into that shape with the new kinds of injuries I've been having. So Maybe 1:50-1:55 is my doable goal. Sub-1:50 would be awesome. Something to consider, though, is that April 24 will be kind of hot. Last year, I think it was 80ish - YIKES!!! "Your marathon time is likely to slow by three percent for every 10 degree rise in temperature from 50 degrees F (http://peakperformance.runnersworld.com/2009/09/index.html)"

2. Wardrobe... depends on whether I think sports bra or singlet would be cooler. When it's sunny outside, I usually stay cooler with a shirt on, to block the sun. When it's overcast, though, sports bra feels awesome. If I do a singlet, I'll probably use my XC wear. With a sports bra, I'll wear my Pton one, with 5-pocket race shorts, which would be very convenient for stashing keys, money, Gu, etc. I probably won't wear a visor because it seems like it may produce wind resistance, even though I usually love visors. I'll probably wear shades, because I dislike sun in my eyes very much - it also offers wind protection for your eyes. If it rains, I'll probably wear a visor but no shades - I love visors in rain.

3. Shoes... I'll probably need support for the 13.1, so I think I'll go with my trusty 3's. Since my old ones are pretty compressed and spent and basically retired, I'll break out my new ones and break them in over the next 3 months. I won't always train with them, since I think variety is good for stabilizer muscles and injury prevention. Which insoles to use, though, is another question... probably either one would be fine (stability or arch support).

4. Gear... If I go with the bra, I'll have the 5-pocket shorts, in which case I may just use my Race Number Belt, since that's lighter. If I go with the singlet, I may wear the Nathan Shadow Pak so that I have somewhere to stash stuff. I may wear the Nathan in either case, though. We'll have to see, because Nathan has more of a chafing risk. I haven't decided yet about wearing a Garmin. Yes, it's useful to see my pace, but it is kinda heavy, and I may get too tired to look at it much anyway. I figure I'll be getting mile splits and seeing mile markers anyway. So probably won't bring it.

5. Fuel... One thing I applaud about this race is their choice in fuel. The sponsored drink is Cytomax, which doesn't have any of the nasty HFCS that Powerade and Gatorade have. Plus, it has extra goodies. For fuel, they offer Gu, which has worked well for me, and which is faster and easier to take in than Shot Bloks or similar gummy products. I therefore probably won't bring any fuel of my own - maybe just something small for pre-race, because I tend to get hungry ever 3 hours.

6. Pacing... No matter my goal time, I think I'll aim for a negative split. There are a few reasons for this. First, you usually run faster with a negative split, since you aren't fatiguing yourself in the first mile. Second, as an added bonus to the first point, the race will be more enjoyable, since there'll be less pain in the later half (even though I'll be going faster), and I'll be happily passing and just getting stronger, rather than fading, a psychological and physical whammy. Last, it would be difficult to run that fast in the first part of the race anyway, due to crowding, so rather than wasting energy weaving around people, I'll just mostly ride out the crowds (although it will be hard to resist the urge to weave around slower people) and then pick it up later on. If I want a 1:55, I'll need 8:47, 1:50 is 8:23... 8:47 looks very reasonable, at least in cold weather... hard to say how my body handles how weather, though. 10% extra is killer. Let's see... 6s per min... is 48s... oooh - so even if I'm back in 8:00 shape, I'd be running an 8:48 at 80 degrees. Now, I don't think it'd be 80 degrees at 7am, so I'd think things would be a little better, but considering that I probably can't get back into 8:00 shape safely in time for the half... eh... Okay, just checked another source (NOAA), and the average mean temp for April is 60... not terrible. 3 degrees per min... times 8... 24. So 8:24 if I'm in great shape... that's the 1:50 mark. And 1:55 is probably more likely. We'll see how it goes, though. Just negative split. Get through the first half, then pick it up if I'm feeling good, especially in the last 3 miles.

7. Extras... I'be been thinking about taking a camera with me, to make memories. Cons: adding weight (pounding on my joints) and time (2 seconds per mile per pound, I think I read somewhere). Pros: it'll be a slow race anyway due to weather, it's an out-and-back course on some parts so I can see my friends passing by, making memories. So this is TBD. Similarly, maybe I'd want to bring a cell phone, if I wanted to check up on my friends during the race, maybe coordinate a hello if we can estimate when we'll pass each other - so that'll largely depend on whether they bring cell phones.

8. Music... Research has proven that music makes you go faster (moreso than tv, even - so it's not mere distraction. another study showed that pace changed as music tempo change, with the relationship you'd expect), but iPods are usually banned. There'll be 50 bands along 26.2 miles, so probably 25 for us. I am somewhat considering earplugs, not because I don't like country - I like it okay, but because I'm really scared of loud music, ear-drum-busting loud music. I'll probably suck it up, especially since ear plugs may get uncomfy.

9. Training... This topic is worth its own blog post, but so much is up in the air, so I can't say that much anyway. A big key is not getting injured. I need to build up endurance. Earlier this year, I mentioned a plan of a faster run (5k), a base run (5mi), and a long run (8+) each week, but I don't know if my body can handle that, at least at this point. I've only had one week like that so far, and I've yet to get close to doing it again. I think my body's been tired for the past few weeks - I should sleep more. Anyway, I'll do what I can. As long as I don't get injured, I'm pretty sure I can finish - it may be awfully slow, but I'll finish, and that'll be its own victory. With tapering, it's hard to taper when you aren't really running much in the first place. For fulls, 3 weeks is recommended, but I'll probably do 2 weeks, with maybe 10 mi/wk and 6 mi/wk. So little, but if my mileage doesn't increase, that's what it's going to be.

10. God... This half will be special because I'll be going with fellow believers, and we can pray together race day and leading up to the race. I especially need to be reminded on where to keep my focus in running and in life, and they'll be good for me. There's some Christian country music, too. On a Youtube video I watched, one of the bands was playing a contemporary Christian song, which should be inspiring while we're out there sweating it out.

That's it for now. I'll probably add things, change my mind about things as I go on, referencing this post.