I've read that the best goal for a first time marathoner is to finish the race. In fact, I've read it many times and I began my training for the Gasparilla Marathon with finishing as my goal. With twelve weeks remaining before the race, I feel more confident than ever that I am capable of finishing the race. This weekend's Half Marathon told me that my body was ready to continue when I crossed the tape.
My trainer feels that our group is capable of pushing out a 3:30. My half (1:43:29) was probably slightly slower than the pace I'll need to reach this goal, considering I did not stop running at any point. While reading "The Great Boston Marathon Qualifier", I noted that Vince stopped during each water stop and even squeezed in 4 potty breaks as he qualified for Boston with a sub 3:30 run. This tells me that I'll need to improve my running pace over the next 81 days if I hope to fulfill my trainers ambitious goal. I don't know how many first time marathoners run 3:30's, but the goal seems lofty.
Of course, if anyone told me I could run a 1:45 half a few months ago, I would also think the goal was lofty. I've trained religiously, and focused on improving my stamina and pace and I have time to improve. I improved my pace by more than 1 minute/mile since starting this training program. Another 20 - 30 seconds per mile and the stamina to keep the pace for 26.2 will get me to a 3:30 run.
I feel confident that my training team will do everything possible to prepare for a 3:30 marathon and therefore I am modifying my goal for Gasparilla from simply finishing to finishing in 3:30. I believe that setting this goal will help design a race strategy and give me something lofty to shoot for.
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