I got an email today about the Michelob-ULTRA 13.1 Atlanta race and intrigued by the fact that the course has been moved to the Cumberland/Galleria part of Cobb County, I signed up on a whim.
I ran in the inaugural version of the race in October 2009 when it winded around Oglethorpe University. At the time I credited it with bringing me back into the running fold after a very slow 2008 running year. Yet I wasn't really that enamored with the course and never ran it again.
This time, however, I sense an opportunity. I've run some of my fastest 5K races since last year's two marathons and wonder if it's time to tackle my biggest running ghost -- to break the PR I set more than 17 years ago when I ran 1:46:30 in the Vancouver (Wash.) Half Marathon, my very first try at that distance.
Back then, as a 27-year-old, I had no inkling of how to run the race. I remember during the race thinking I would take it easy for the first three miles then "make my move." I ran as fast as I could for the next seven miles before bonking hard.
Still, I ended up with a PR that I have never managed to break in 23 subsequent half-marathons (although I came within 30 seconds of breaking my best time in the February 2011 Run the Reagan Half Marathon) . Part of me always remembered the pain of that first race and just decided to "take it easy" for all of the other races.
But I never had a good plan to tackle that PR -- until now. Last year, I used Hanson's Half-Marathon Method to train for the 2014 Publix Georgia Half Marathon, but only as a way to beta-test what I would use to train for the Marine Corps Marathon. I also did not have much experience with the workouts involved and often did not pay heed to running at particular paces at the time.
This time I want to use the Hanson's method solely for this distance without having an eye on the full marathon. My thought is that I would train toward goal A, which would be to run faster than 1:45:47, the cutoff for Group A of the Peachtree Road Race's old time standards using a half-marathon time. Goal B would be to break my PR and run 1:46:29. If I don't succeed on this hilly course, I'll have a second chance on another hilly course, on Dec. 14 in the Jeff Galloway 13.1.
Week 1 of the 18-week training program would begin on June 1. Unlike last year when I cleared my plate of all races except for the Peachtree Road Race so I could train for the marathon, I've already signed up for a few 5Ks and the city's best 10K.
In a sense, I came out of last year's marathons without a good sense of focus on what I wanted to do next but have gained confidence in recent 5K races with a lot better speed than I've had in recent years. It's probably the right amount of time to set a semi-reasonable goal. I guess we will see what will happen.
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