Trying for a PR at Zooma Annapolis

I had high hopes at Shamrock Half Marathon in March to beat my 13.1 PR of 2:51:15. Sadly, due to my own lack of training, there is nothing more to blame it on, I did not. It was my second fastest half out of five, but I didn't even break three hours. Blargh!

What did I do after Shamrock? I signed up for Zooma Annapolis with the goal of breaking my PR. One big reason I want to break my PR is at Zooma, rather than a medal for crossing the line you receive a necklace. That's all well and good, but I like medal bling. In order to get medal bling I need to PR.

Yup. I need to PR to get the above medal. It's pretty spiffy. In order to get it, I need to break 2:51:14. Maybe not PRing in Virginia Beach was a good thing. I don't have to strive to run even faster than March.

I've been doing hill repeats, which is supposed to help with speed. Plus, make it easier to run hills when you come across them. I think they are helping since I was able to run Saturday's hills-from-hell race and only stop for two side streets that were insane and for my normal walk breaks. I honestly don't think a year or two ago I could have run this race.

I went on-line and found a website that gave me the pace I would need to keep for each mile during Zooma Annapolis to run a just barely PR (2:51:14) and what my ultimate goal would be (2:49:59).

2:51:14 (Squeaking by)

Mile 1 ~ 13:04

Mile 2 ~ 26:08

Mile 3 ~ 39:12

Mile 4 ~ 52:17

Mile 5 ~ 1:05:21

Mile 6 ~ 1:18:25

Mile 7 ~ 1:31:29

Mile 8 ~ 1:44:34

Mile 9 ~ 1:57:38

Mile 10 ~  2:10:42

Mile 11 ~ 2:24:47

Mile 12 ~ 2:36:51

Mile 13 ~ 2:49:55

Mile 13.1 ~ 2:51:14

2:49:59 (Ultimate goal)

Mile 1 ~12:58

Mile 2 ~25:57

Mile 3 ~38:55

Mile 4 ~51:54

Mile 5 ~1:04:52

Mile 6 ~ 1:17:51

Mile 7 ~ 1:30:49

Mile 8 ~ 1:43:48

Mile 9 ~ 1:56:46

Mile 10 ~  2:09:45

Mile 11 ~ 2:22:44

Mile 12 ~ 2:35:42

Mile 13 ~ 2:48:41

Mile 13.1 ~ 2:49:59

I like this. I can work with this. This is tangable. I wasn't sure what I should be aiming for mile-wise for any of my races. This gives me what I need to focus on. I can see where I should be at each mile. If I'm ahead, fantastic! If I'm falling behind I can work on stepping it up. Plus now I can track my runs to see if I'm running fast enough to make these times.

I have a 10k on Saturday. I am going to write these numbers out and take them with me. I may not meet these, but it will give me a good idea of where I stand. What makes me laugh is I'm not a math person, but this so makes me happy. Such a dork...

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