Hi Dots,
In April I'll be power walking my 4th half marathon. MORE magazine holds one each year for women over 40 only.
I do it with a girl friend for her birthday. We thought we'd live through one and that would be that. We were barely able to walk after the first one because despite reading about training I don't think we actually did enough, or didn't eat right or whatever.
So we determined we'd try it again. And try to better our time.
First year, 3 hours 15. 2nd 3 hours. Last year while I was out on a training walk I was thinking about what I wanted my time to be.
I suddenly got this vision of the finish line and the timer overhead. It read 2:46. Yea right I thought initially. Then I did the math on how many mins per mile etc and decided that I'd hold that vision and aim for that time.
Well at every other mile there is a timer letting you know how far you've gone and the time. I kept track but when I saw I was slipping behind I just kept repeating 246, 246. Long and short of it? When I went over the finish line I forgot to look but knew it was shorter than 3 hours which was the big goal.
When I got the email with my time, 2 days after the race, whadda ya think it said? Yup, 2 hours 46 minutes.
I was more amazed at the power of intention to keep me moving at that pace than that I did another half marathon.
If you need any tips just let me know. After 3 of them I feel like an expert.
mscoach