Goals & Some Last Thoughts About the Baltimore Half Marathon

I really cannot believe that I am running my first half marathon in two days. That's 13.1 miles people! I have been surprisingly calm this week, but I am starting to get a little nervous. I am also starting to get really excited. I had a stressful week with classes this week which was definitely distracting me from my upcoming race.

There have been a lot of things running through my mind today, some good, some bad. Mostly I have been wishing I put more into my training and fearing I won't be able to finish. I have been trying to think positive thoughts and just focus on my excitement for Saturday.

On that note, I have been working on what my goals for the race are going to this whole week. Because I had some hiccups in my training I feel that I am unable to create certain goals for myself. But there are still some things that I want to try to achieve.

1. Soak up every moment of this weekend
This is such a big weekend for me. The longest race I have ever done is a 5K and my first one was only in May. This is my first race with an expo and 25,000+ runners. I want to absorb every possible second of this weekend. I don't want to miss a minute of this wonderful madness.

2. Cross the finish line with a smile on my face
I want to cross the finish line proud of myself for what I accomplished. I know I am undertrained for this race but I don't want that to matter at the finish line. I want the only thing to matter is the feeling of success and accomplishment that is flooding me.


3. Finish under 2:30:00
I know this is not a fantastic finishing time but as I have mentioned many times I am undertrained. I would love to tell you all that I want to run this race under 2 hours or some other fast time but I simply cannot do that. I know that in order to cross that finish line I am going to have to walk some. And as simple math tells us, you cannot walk a 2 hour half marathon.

4. Be proud of myself
I have struggled for the past twelve years with really low self esteem. I have always felt that I was inadequate when it comes to physical activity. This does not make a whole lot of sense since I was a very successful swimmer through my high school years, even qualifying for nationals multiple times and swimming and a D1 school last year. This is the goal that I most want to achieve.