Why Not?

There's a half marathon this Sunday? OK, sign me up. I wasn't really planning on racing this week, but from what they tell me it'll be a good training run for the marathon. I don't know who the heck they are, but sometimes I wish they'd shut up. But I'll do it anyway.

This was supposed to be my last long week, culminating in a 20-miler this weekend. Instead, I'll be running my second half marathon and rearranging this week's schedule to reach 30 miles. But now I'm wondering if I should push that 20-miler back a week so that I have two before the 29th arrives. Why not?

Year of the PR
So far, I've set personal records every race I've run this year. Mostly because I've been trying new distances and this is just my second year of running. My first half marathon. My first 5K. And soon my first marathon. I also beat last year's 10K and actually placed second in my age group (obviously, a small field). So, I named this year the year of the personal record.

Now, I'm going to have to make good on that and beat my long-standing, four-month-old half marathon record. And not get hurt.

To reach my time goal for the marathon, I should run the half at about 1 hour 50 minutes, which will also accomplish the PR. However, instead of abstaining from the booze for a week like I did in May, I'll continue with my current training regimen. OK, maybe I won't run hungover.