Today marks the final week before #RnRVegas Half Marathon. It also marks the ninth week of official training. With these two thoughts in mind I have had to reevaluate my goals for this race. Originally I had planned to run a sub 1:40:00 to either match or best my RnRSanDiego results. after looking over my training and receiving some good advice I have had to change that. Instead I am going to focus on the 5k on Saturday and use the Half as a training run.
Multiple things have led me to this decision, weight, fitness level, time spent training and training results. At this time I believe I am closer to a 1:43:00 finishing time than a sub 1:40 and I don't want to push myself. Yes I got my weight down to below what it was at SanDiego and my diet is better but its not optimal. At this point in time my longest run has been 10 miles and only have two of those in ten weeks and neither were pleasant. I also am lacking in consistent running mileage per week over a 4-5 week period. I am currently topping out at 30 miles a week consistently and thats not where I am comfortable at for a fast half marathon race. Overall this last 9 weeks of training haven't been optimal.
There were some positive things that have happened through this training block. I did get my weight down and I am a lot healthier. I posted my fastest mile in over 24 years and believe this could be the key to me breaking a sub 20 5K. I have gotten my speed up and my heart rate down but still not where I need it to be. So yes this training block has produced some positive things but not enough to make a sub 1:40 effort.
#RnRVegas also isn't a race that plays to my strong suits. I am a much better morning runner than I am evening runner and the race is at night. The course while very much downhill with very few feet in elevation, the layout works against me. The first 9 miles of the race appear to be a nice steady drop in elevation with the last four miles being a slight uphill. This works out for a nice 10k or 15k pace but its that last 4 at race pace that can make or break the race.
In the end #RnRVegas doesn't seem to be a good race for me and I need to treat it like a training run. I will use the 5K to fine tune my training and get a better idea of my fitness levels. I will try my best to run the race and just enjoy the good times of the strip at night. Besides I still have #RnRArizona in January and I would much rather post a good time on my new home field. Theres also the IMS Marathon I signed up for in February to consider as well. Both of those would be better suited for me.
I guess we will wait and see because once I toe that line anything can happen.
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