Up for the challenge by FatFrank

I’d be lying if I told you that I wasn’t a tad nervous about the half-marathon this week-end. Actually I feel like when I first started running, not knowing at all what to expect but feeling in the back of my head that it could be surprisingly good or awfully painful. Oddly enough this time I’m not worried whether I can win it or not (well ok, maybe a bit), nor about having to reach a certain standard; I’m just nervous about having to explore that whole new territory. I’ve never had to race for longer than 10k and I can imagine that if I start hurting too early I could be in for a long ride. Actually, the reason I’m saying that is because I ran a tempo 12k to get a good feel of the pace and to have an idea of my mental state with another 9k to go. First K was a bit fast in 3:12 and then settled to 3:18-3:21 for a 33:05 10k split. I felt alright but the idea of having to keep it up for another half hour seemed like one heck of a challenge at the time. Likely I’ll be a lot more relaxed in a race set-up and knowing from the start that 12k is not the finish line will have me go thru that checkpoint in a lot less pain. Luckily workouts have shown this week that even if I’m at the highest mileage I’ve been in the past 3 years I can still record some decent times. Just last Wednesday I ran a 10x 1k in avg 3:05 with only a 1min30 rest. It’s incredible how fast I recover as long as I don’t hit that lactate threshold – in which case it’s over. Now, I have to take a look back at my training and just built the confidence as I toe the line. I truly believe I’m ready for a fast time and I’m gonna go ahead and predict a 1:10:20 if winds are calm – but that’s just me talking. Hopefully that will give me the win cause I already told friends that if I can put my hands on the first prize I’m paying a round to everyone the following week-end at our annual Open Bar / Open Grill BBQ.