I signed up for this race on Monday of this week, but that doesn’t mean I can’t shoehorn some goals into this event.

A Standard: 2:20
B Standard: 2:30

I literally have no idea if these are realistic goals. I used a couple of race predictors based on my most recent 5K (29:30) and then backed off even more because I’m not tapered or making this a goal race. I have never run a road half marathon before, so I don’t know how this is going to go. My suspicion is that I have the physical capability for these times but I have to find the mental capability inside myself. Also I have to be vigilant because sometimes I think I’m cruising along at a good pace and then I look down and I’m running like a 14 minute pace.

This is going to be a good chance for me to test out a couple things for Twin Cities. I am going to run without a handheld or a hydration pack, and just rely on the water stops. This is new for me – usually I’ve got at least a handheld. It’s like the equivalent of a security blanket for me. But I’ve got to take the training wheels off at some point.

It will be freeing to run without a pack on my back, and with my hands free. But will it translate into a faster pace over a sustained period of time? It should, as should running in the morning before it gets too hot.

Of course I have all kinds of excuses pre-set in my mind for how I won’t be able to perform up to what my abilities likely are. Oh, I just signed up for this race. Oh, I’m not tapered. I’ve never done this before. It’s early. I’m tired. I lack endurance. But what it comes down to is that in hard races like this, I race without courage. I worry about how the miles down the road will be affected by the mile I’m in. I worry about my stomach. I worry that it will be too hard. I worry I’ll get sunburned. I worry that even if I do run my hardest, it’ll be a mediocre time and what will be the point? I worry less about that last one than I used to, because it is what it is. But even after a couple years of slow-as-f*** running behind me, I still feel a bit embarrassed that my best efforts are times sneered at by faster runners when they think people like me aren’t looking.

Whatever happens, I guess I’ll be setting a road half marathon PR (since I’ve never done one) and an overall half marathon PR (since I haven’t run one since Harder ‘n Hell in 2015), and I’ll finally get an idea of what’s to come in October.