The Countdown Begins -- Lets Set Some (realistic) Goals!

Looks like I've got about 10 weeks to somehow get back into decent enough shape for the half-marathon I've signed up for. It's been a while since I have ran that distance, but I'm looking forward to the journey -- I'm finding it to be quite the motivator currently. Probably not the worst idea to take a trip down memory lane and see how some of my old races went...

2013 BMO Okanagan Half Marathon (21.1km):

This was the first halfie I ever ran. I was pretty unprepared for it. I think, before race day, the farthest I ever ran was about 13 km -- but I had decided to just bite down and push through. I ended up finishing with a please 2h:14m time, and was committed to improving for next year. I actually ended up getting REALLY sick the night before the race. I think I got nervous -- I had told so many people I would be running, and was scared to disappoint. I ended up throwing up and dry heaving until about midnight the night before the race -- but I suppose I also lost about 5~10 pounds, so I had that goin' for me.

2014 Okanagan College Half Maraton (April).

Significant improvement for this race. Managed to get in at around 1hr:48minutes. I was SUPER happy about this time. Almost a 5min/km pace. I had never run quite so hard.

2014 Whistler Half Marathon (June).

This race was probably the highlight of my running 'career' -- not that it can be called that. The run was in beautiful Whistler BC, and was pretty hilly -- which was my jam. I spent a lot of time doing hill-training. I was off in Calgary for the summer for work on a co-op semester from school. All I did every day was bike to and from work, then go to the climbing gym or go running about 5 days a week each. I was on a FUCKING roll. This was the first and only time I've ever beaten my brother @jkms, and it felt fucking awesome. I almost cried at the end of the race. Solid 5min/km pace.

2016 BMO Okanagan Half Marathon

Turns out that I changed gears a little bit and started doing some training more geared towards full marathons -- which I never really excelled at. There were a few injuries here and there, and I finished university in 2015 -- which really made it come crashing home that having to manage a full-time job can seriously cut into the amount of time I've got to train. Crankin' out a 1+hr run every day is a lot easier when you're 600km away from friends, family, and fun.

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Off the Cuff Goal Setting:

Looking back on my performance on these runs -- I've oscillated between 2hr:15m and 1hr:45m generally. I like to try to set moderately ambitious goals -- and I've run a few 10km races this year, so I think I've got a sense of where my cardio is at. I'd like to manage to finish this upcoming halfie in or around the 1hr:55m time-frame. Keeping it a little quicker than 5:30/km pace seems like an achievable goal.

Looking forward to getting into my training at full-speed again! Here's hoping that works stops getting in the way soon.