Probably Gonna Be "Just Okay" At The Garmin Half Marathon

45 has not gone as planned.  After my "victorious" exit from the 40-44 year old age group in December, I fully expected to take the 45-49 year old's by storm ... wa-wa-waaaaaammmmppp (game show loser sound effect).   To this point, pretty much what I've experienced is one setback after another.  And in about 10 days at the Garmin Half Marathon, we'll find out if those challenges took their expected toll on my race result ... or if maybe I was able to power through to a nice finish.  At this point, I'm really not expecting great things, but hopefully it won't be a disaster either.

After several races over the past few years, I've started to kind of figure out my body.  And with that, very few finish line times at an event really surprise me.  I usually know if it's gonna be a nice run, or if I'm gonna struggle to keep pace.  And as I sit here and think about Garmin, I imagine I'll probably be around 1:28-1:29.  A few years ago I would've done a back-flip with those times.  But based on my marathon PR, and my splits during training, I really feel like I should be closer to a 1:25 runner, which was my original goal for this race.  But that is definitely not going to happen.

Last year seemed to be the perfect year of running.  I trained with almost no setbacks, was injury free, and everything just seemed to fall perfectly into place.  But so far, this year has been a complete 180.  Like most folks, I've really struggled with the winter weather.  I could just never get in a rhythm with running outdoors.  Plus, I got sick for the first time in about 6 or 7 years ... a 3-4 week bronchial thing, right in the middle of training, that I just couldn't seem to kick. That was definitely the biggest hurdle.  Also, work presented new challenges.  I've been busier than ever, and several early morning meetings and unusual travel schedules have made me readjust over and over.  And finally, we've recently had extended family health issues that are first and foremost in our mind.  I'm pretty stressed and worried over a few different things going on with people I love, especially the birth of my second grandchild, any day now.  Of course I'm excited, but it's my baby girl giving birth to her baby girl.  So I'm like any grandfather, I'm really eager to meet that little sweetie ... but really concerned about my own daughter and her well being.  I'm probably guilty of letting little things become "excuses" for me during training.  And at the end of the day, this is just running ... just running.  And if I don't get to train like I want because of life, and real issues, it's gonna be okay.  But this training session has simply had challenges that didn't allow me to fulfill the high demands that were required to run the time I had targeted.

Am I in good shape right now?  Yeah, pretty good.  But for me to run a sub 1:25, I needed to be in great shape, which I am not.  But I've tried to push through the training as much as possible, and hopefully I'll be in the top 5 of my age group at Garmin.  But if I'm not, it will probably refocus me for my summer training, and the main event in the fall ... The Indianapolis Monumental Marathon, where I'll make my first real run at 3:00.  But for now, the Garmin Half Marathon will be a good measuring stick, and a benchmark for the rest of my 45 year old days.  Have a great week!
... be great today!