Project 52 Update #2 -- Baseline

I slept really hard last night.  I woke up with stiff legs this morning.  And now I have a baseline.

Yesterday, I completed my fifth half-marathon at the ING Miami Marathon and Half-Marathon.  I finished the race in 3:30:47.  Now I know just how far I have to go in order to finish a half in under three hours so that I can cross item number 1 off my list.

I don't feel bad about my time.  I didn't train for the race.  It was a little warm.  I've heard and seen people talk about how hard yesterday's race was.  I've heard people talk about how they feel today.  Yesterday was probably the best I've felt after any race I've done.  So there is improvement there.

But in order to achieve this goal, I am going to have to cut nearly 31 minutes off my time.  I have to lower my pace by nearly two and a half minutes.  This is going to require some discipline and some work.  In my previous races, my times have ranged from 3:18 to 3:32.

So far, I have trained and participated in these races as a race walker.  In order to accomplish this goal, I am going to have to be more of a runner.  I have a lifelong aversion to running.  This is going to be quite the challenge.

My target race for completing this goal will be the Walt Disney World Wine and Dine Half Marathon which will take place the weekend of November 9th and 10th.  That means I will need to start my serious training around the beginning of June.  However, to get in running shape, I'm going to try to start running on a regular basis before then.

However, that date presents a bit of a problem for me.  My original plan was to go for the time at the Wine and Dine and leave myself a backup plan in case it didn't work out at that race.  However, as I looked into it this weekend, I was thrown for a loop by Disney.

The Wine and Dine is a fairly new race started by Disney back in 2010.  I have run the race the last two years when it was held on the first weekend of October.  I was expecting them to follow form and hold the race the first weekend of October this year.  That left a couple of races even later in the year as backups.  There is a Halloween themed race on Miami Beach on October 27 and there is a race in Fort Lauderdale on November 11 that is part of the 13.1 series of races.

Much to my surprise, when I check the Run Disney website, I realized that they are planning on having the race later this year.  With Disney moving the Wine and Dine back to November, I'm not sure I'll have a backup race.  Fort Lauderdale is now out.  I could still do the Halloween race, but I would hate to have an injury or not have enough time to recover physically before the Wine and Dine.  I'll need to do more research to find out if there are any races in the area in late November or December that I can count on as backups.

So the lesson this week is adaptability.  The Wine and Dine may be my only shot.  That means I can't afford to slack off on my training.  Maybe knowing that there is no backup plan will help keep me disciplined.

Only time will tell.

I haven't really made any progress yet on the rest of the list.  But I now have a target date for item 1.