2012 Goal #1

I can't remember if I officially announced this but I am running the Birmingham Half Marathon.

I've also decided not to use a coach for this race.  For the last two years I have trained with Elizabeth Waterstraat.  When I was finished with Ironman and decided to focus on weight loss so I took a break from her.  Liz is a phenomenal coach, athlete and role model.  I can't say enough good things about her.  I was one of her less successful athletes (although she never made me feel that way).  Most of the people she coaches are winning their age group, qualifying for Kona or making their appearances at the ITU World Championship.  She taught me a lot about what it means to really go out there and give it everything you have, redefining what it means to be committed to something.   Doing your best means being committed to the goal everyday and working everyday toward that goal.  When I decided to run a half I thought about my goals and decided that it wasn't time to go back to her.  At this time I'm not ready to go back to the triathlon world.  I know that she can coach single sport athletes but I really want her to coach me as a triathlete.  I'm still not ready to sign up for a triathlon.  maryK and I are still on a break from each other (my bike).  I also know that when I go back to her, I want to be committed to the race goal.  Right now weight loss is still more important to me and I will put that above training. 

Since I'm not using a coach I decided to use a hal higdon intermediate training program.  So far it's good.  I still have to use a lot of my knowledge for the workouts as the free version just provides a skeleton schedule. 


My goal for this race is to run a sub 2 hour half.  I haven't done that since I was 22 years old.  I'm really focusing on running at a fast pace during my training runs.  In order to reach my goal I must run at a 9:05 minute mile.  I think I can do that.  I just have to stay focused and continue to lose weight.