NYC Distance Challenge - Targets

The month of races is almost here. My distance challenge starts with Grete's Great Gallop on Oct 14th, then the NYC Marathon on Nov 4th and finally the NYC 60K on Nov 17th.

My training has been limping forward. Work and life have taken a lot of time lately and I couldn't get to the mileage I wanted to. I also never felt adjusted to heat. My big mistake so far this year has been staying away from races. Last year, while trying to complete the 9+1 program, I more or less had a race once a month (or, you know, 3 in 8 days). I was definitely fitter and faster. 

Things have been improving the last couple of weeks though. Once my legs recovered from the Ragnar, I was able to improve my mileage a bit. I feel like I am at a good point speedwise, but my endurance needs to get better. I am going out for a serious long run with a friend tomorrow. I feel like once I get an 18-20 miler done, I will regain my confidence. If this weekend doesn't work, I have the 18 mile marathon tune-up on September 23.

Then I will be off to the races! I am going to set some targets here, mostly as a self-guide:

Oct14: Grete's Great Gallop (Half-marathon, 13.1 miles)
- Optimistic: 1:58:00 - ~9 min/mile.
- Realistic: 2:04:30 - ~9:30 min/mile
- Pessimistic: 2:11:00 - ~10 min/mile

Nov4: NYC Marathon (Marathon, 26.2 miles)
- Optimistic: 4:10:00 - ~9:30 min/mile
- Realistic: 4:20:00 - ~10 min/mile
- Pessimistic: 4:45:00 - ~11 min/mile

Nov17: NYC 60K
- Optimistic: 7:00:00 - ~11 min/mile
- Realistic: 7:30:00 - ~12 min/mile
- Pessimistic: 8:00:00 - ~13 min/mile

Hitting the optimistic targets in all three would mean three PRs and that would be terrific!