Green Bay Marathon Goals

Tonight I had a boring old 3 mile easy run to do.  To make it a little less boring, it has turned to winter around here.  Seriously it's cooooold.  I've had my heat on driving to and from work the past two days.  I swear to God I spent more time rounding up my cold weather running gear than I actually spent doing the run.  Interesting fact about the run:  at the 1.5 mile turn around point my watch said 14:11.  Finishing time 28:22.  Couldn't have done it if I tried fo sho.  My legs were pretty heavy, which is to be expected after a quick tempo run yesterday.  I usually let them rest after speed work, but wanted to make sure I had rest days on Friday and Saturday.

3 miles in 28:22 for a pace of 9:28.
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And now what you've all been waiting for............ (you have been waiting for this, right???)

Green Bay Goals
(in dinosaur terms, because, why not??)

I know everyone says not to have a time goal for your first marathon.  Apparently no one told that to my buddy BQoh1stT/TG (BQ on his 1st Try/Tri Guy) who did just that.  With that being said, I'm an extremely competitive person and cannot imagine going in to a race without a goal of some kind.  What I have come up with (while logging all of my long runs, I was allotted many hours of pure thinking and computation) is a rough time guide that I should be able to hit, whether it be on race day, or a marathon in the near? future.

Goal Triceratops:  Have fun.  Finish the race with a big ol' smile on my face (and more than likely tears in my eyes streaming down my face).  Seriously bask in the awesomeness that my body and hard work have provided me.  Also, don't die.  That would be...uh.... bad.

Goal Brontosaurus (aka Longneck):  This includes Goal Triceratops as well as a time goal.  Ooooh....pretty.  Given my pace on my long runs, I should be able to finish under 4:10, which is a pretty dog gone good time if you ask me.  This time goal would also mean that I have spent less time in the port a potties than I have running the course (this is a big fear for me, for some reason. :/)

Goal Velociraptor:  This also includes Goal Triceratops, as that goal is undisputable come race day.  In addition to the smile, would be crossing the finish line in between 4:04 and 4:08 minutes.  How do I get some a complex time frame?  You might ask.  Well 8 is my lucky number, and so is 4 (and also happens to be Brett Favre's number....weird) so both of these would be an acceptable time frames.  This would also be pretty spot on with my pace for my 20 milers, so would be great motivation to keep pushing the last 10k and not let myself walk.

Goal Pterodactyl:  Again this includes Goal Triceratops, but also a big kahuna:  Run a sub 4 marathon.  Whooooooa nelly!  That's a pretty lofty goal.  And I agree.  However, I saw someone's tweet the other day that I couldn't agree more with, it went something along the lines of, "If you're constantly hitting your A goal (or in my case Pterodactyl goal) you're setting your goals too low!"  Agreed.  Might as well shoot for the stars, yes?  Going in to the race, this will not be my goal.  However, at mile 20 if my legs are feeling good and it's a possibility (aka all stars are in alignment) you better believe I'll be hauling booty to do it.  Now if Brett Favre happens to be the 4 hour pace leader, than MAYBE this goal might be my time goal from the start of the race........ just sayin'.

**In case you were wondering, these are my 4 favorite dinosaurs in least to favoritest order.  I love dinosaurs.  Also, I am 5 years old apparently. :)  **