Half Marathon Training – Week 7 – Half on Sunday

This week I did my usual pre-race taper of one five, four and three miler.

19/04	-	Rest day
20/04	4.0 mi	Easy run: avg 10:17 min/mile
21/04	5.0 mi	Tempo Run: 3mi @ 8:32/8:32/8:23 min/mile
22/04	3.0 mi	Easy run: avg 9:58 min/mile
23/04	-	Rest day
24/04	-	Rest day
25/04	13.1 mi	Half marathon race day
Total	25.1 mi	YTD: 383.9 miles

I have decided to take a fairly low key approach to Sunday’s half marathon. My main goal will be in finish in under 2:00. On a good day I think I could get closer to 1:55 but I’m not fussed about it. I want to save something for the Sporting Life 10K I’m running next weekend because I’m definitely going to make a PB attempt there. My 10K PB of 54:02 is from 2006 and is the weakest of my PBs so its just asking to be broken. The other issue is that I’ve actually never seen 80% of the Waterloo course and I know there are some hills. The race director sent out an elevation chart (below). There’s a total of 109m (358 ft) of climbing which isn’t too bad but it’s definitely not flat.

So my plan is to start slow and try and settle into a groove somewhere between 5:27 min/km and 5:42 min/km. Tune back in on Sunday or Monday for a race report!