Time To Up The Ante: Seeking The Sub-2 Half

"You can't hit a home run unless you step up to the plate. You can't catch a fish unless you put your line in the water. You can't reach your goals unless you try." ~ Kathy Seligman 

I love setting goals for myself. They give me something to shoot and strive for. No matter the area of life, you need goals to give you direction and drive. Otherwise, you end up going about life aimlessly.

Early in my running, I saw the importance of have a goal out there to keep me motivated, to keep me going, to keep me getting up early and hit the pavement.

At first, signing up for a race was enough motivation. I had to run and train in order to be able to finish. Then it was to PR, to try a new distance and so on and so forth.

But with each goal achieved, a new one must replace it.

And the ante must be upped.

With that said, I am putting it out here for the world to see what my next big goal is.

The sub-2 hour half marathon.

Figure if I put this goal out there for all to know, I can't back down.

This will be a good jump for me. My current PR for the half is 2:05:13 - an average of 9:34 per mile. To hit the sub-2 hour mark, I'll have to average 9:10 per mile or faster.

Not going to lie, shaving 25 seconds off per mile scares the buhjeezus out of me.

Finishing the 2011 Iron Horse Half with
a then-PR of 2:09:42

The Iron Horse Half on Oct. 13 is the race I'll first attempt going for the sub-2. I ran this race in 2011 and posted a then-PR of 2:09:42. At the time, I shaved nearly 22 minutes off my PR at this race.

I am not a speed merchant. Honestly, I enjoy the endurance and the high mileage of races. I'm not going to say speed is not my thing, but it has always scared me.

To be fast, you have to push hard.

Well, now ... I'm going to be pushing myself to go hard.

The training plan I've picked and laid out has a lot of tempo runs, speed work and mile repeats in it. Those are definitely not my favorite things. As I head into this new challenge, I truly see this being as big of a mental test for me as training for my first marathon was. I know I'm going to have to tell myself to keep pushing when my body is screaming to slow down.

So, I ask you. What tips do you have for increasing speed? What has worked best for you in improving your times? And what goals are you shooting for?

The only limits we have are the ones we place on ourselves.

Happy running!