Plan for VA 10 miler!
So I think part of the reason I’ve been struggling with this race is because I never thought it would happen. I’ve just been waiting for something to interfere and be like “Oh well I tried.” Well, nothing has happened so I guess I’m stuck running this thing… (not the healthiest attitude going into this but I’m working on it.)
Corse map here - https://www.strava.com/segments/16098456
I feel like I have some kind of home field advantage here, because I’ve participated in the 4 miler twice. Meaning I’ve felt the worst of the hills. Honestly, looking back over some of my other races the hills aren’t the worst I’ve faced this year. There is one called the “farm basket hill” (starts at mile 1.6 finishes at mile 2) and it’s really just bad because it’s curved and you don’t necessarily see the finish. I just have to remind myself on race day that I’ve faced worse, I’ve crushed worse and it’s all mental. That’s all easier said than done, but I hope I can dig into that positivity on race day. Also, this year I get to go down that hill! So I can add that to my bag of things I say to get myself up the hill.
Half marathon pace is 15:32 which puts me at finishing this race at 2:32:27. There is a 2:30:00 cut off for this race.. so the goal is to go out kinda fast (the first 1.6 miles is downhill so I’m aiming for something starting with 14 mins (even if its 14:59 - I think it’s more about confidence at this point). Then we have the first hill if I have to walk, I’ll walk. But I’m going to try and run as much of it as I can. Hoping to keep my pace for the 2nd and 3rd mile in the high 15 min paces or low 16s. Mile 4 -6 is mainly downhill so hoping I can hit something low 15s or high 14s. Mile 7 is flat with a slight up hill - I’m going to stick as close to 15:32 pace as possible. Mile marker 7 is where I start to go down farm basket. All bets are off at this point. I plan to take advantage of the sharp downhill and really pick up the pace. At 8.5 we start an ever so slight uphill climb. I’ll adjust pace as needed but I’m really counting on 2 things at this point. 1) It’s a straight shot to the finish line and I should be able to see it the entire 10th mile #motivation! And 2) I’m really hoping that I would have picked up some time on the downhill and I’ll have a little wiggle room. The last thing I want is to have to push up that entire hill!
Fears -
#1 - Not finishing - I don’t think I’m strong enough as a runner to bounce back from a DNF. I would probably never run again.
# 2 - Being swept from the course - I don’t know how they do it. I know at some races if you have a mile where you don’t meet pace, they pull you. I don’t think this race is that extreme (looking at last year’s finish times, there seems to be a buffer in the cut of time - they had finishers at over 3 hours).
#3 - Chickening out and running through the 4 miler finish line… I didn’t know I had that option until someone at work told me that they did that once.. now I know I have the option and I’m scared I’m going to use it.
Motivators -
#1 - this race has always been a bucket list race. It’s the race that got me in to running and it’s the most magical event.
#2 - There are volunteers and cheerleaders at every step. They have awesome handmade posters and they cheer soooo loud! There are live bands and it’s seriously such a magical community event ever.
#3 - It’s an out and back. I always do better on out and backs. I really only have to make it to mile 5 (there’s no other way back to my car after that).
#4 - The weather is finally cooling down and I won’t have to adjust pace! According to weather underground - it’s going to be 59 and sunny at the start of the race and 69 at my predicted finish! Humidity is still pretty high 96% at the start but it’s going to go down to 79% around my finish time. I still don’t fully know what dew point is, but it’ll be 58 at the start and 60 at my finish. I think that’s good.
#5- It’s the 45th anniversary of the race! Translation - finishers get a blanket this year and the medal is the coolest it’s ever been!
#6 - in addition to the feast after the race (I’m talking all the race foods. Pizza, Bagels, whole bananas (not those stingy cut in half ones that some race directors try to throw at you - jokes on them, you cut my banana in half, I’m going to take 2 - they are literally 42 cents a pound there are more effective ways to trim your race budget. I digress!), gourmet coffee, oj, cookies the whole nine yards) I get to come home to wedding cake!!! Our 1 year wedding anniversary is on Sunday so my husband has agreed that we can cut into the cake a day early J.
#7 - My mom (and maybe dad) will be there!! They haven’t come to any of my races before. Mainly because I’m an adult and they don’t have to come to my sporting events anymore; however, since this one is so important to me and Josh may not be at the finish line (he’s running the 4 miler and the shuttle back to the finish can be slow) they are coming to cheer me on!! Secret goal - hoping my mom will fall in love with the event and start running with me.
Goals -
A Goal- 2:29:59
B Goal - Don’t get swept!
C Goal - Finish no matter what (even if it’s on the sidewalk)!
Update - After typing out all the things I’m excited about, I feel a lot better! I think I’ve just been focusing on the bad stuff too long. Was it a perfect training plan? Nope! But Coach Billy said I’m going to be fine. It’ll be a little harder but it’s still totally do-able. So I have no reason to doubt him or myself really!
Plan for week 38: 
