If I could sum up my training for the upcoming USA Half Marathon Championships next Sunday in three words it would be; pretty damn good. Looking forward to the half marathon, I only have one race to use as a barometer, and that would be the treacherous club national race last month in Bend, Oregon. Running 32 minutes for a 10k is never a good thing, but on that course in those conditions, I shouldn't be too upset. The effort was solid, and I felt good about placing 49th. Nevertheless, I really don't have an accurate perception on my fitness in the half marathon.
I can look back on the weeks and access my workouts. Like any runner who's had consistent training, we always lean towards optimism and believe we are fitting and faster than we might actually be. If you don't feel this way, then why bother racing a National Championship? For the most part, it's nearly impossible to tell what you are going to run, which is exactly why we RACE - to find out our ability on that given day. And with the past month of training and building from my last National Championship (Twin Cities, not club nats), I feel pretty damn good going to Houston next week.
Some of the confidence comes from specific workouts, and from consistent mileage, while maintain a paycheck from my job as a teacher... I think one solid workout I did over the winter break was 8x1000m in 3:02 average. The other one has to be a few of the long run workouts. An easy 4 miles, followed by 6x1 mile with 70 seconds jogging in: 5:15, 5:10, 5:03, 5:00, 4:57, 4:50, followed by 12 more miles seems to do the trick. With my last long run workout this Sunday and an easy tempo run on Wednesday before the Sunday race, I feel ready to go. I've crunched some numbers and already know the goal is at least 4:57 per mile. Is that realistic when I've probably only done that a few times in workouts? Why not? With the depth of guys racing next weekend on a nearly flat course and the predicted perfect weather; anything is possible.
The Field is loaded with the following runners:
| Armijo | Jesse | Albuquerque | NM |
| Armstrong | Chass | Greenville | SC |
| Ashe | Eric | Boston | MA |
| Atkins | Cole | Blowing Rock | NC |
| Barkhaus | Erik | Seattle | WA |
| Barrett | Matt | Madison | WI |
| Birdsong | Brandon | Manitou Springs | CO |
| Biwott | Shadrack | Folsom | CA |
| Boit | Josphat | Mammoth Lakes | CA |
| Boyd | Travis | Edmonds | WA |
| Braun | Aaron | Englewood | CO |
| Brown | Sean | Aurora | CO |
| Bruce | Ben | Flagstaff | AZ |
| Cabada | Fernando | Boulder | CO |
| Carson | Jared | Austin | TX |
| Carson | Josh | Atlanta | GA |
| Ceja | Javier | Wichita | KS |
| Chavez | Michael | Fort Collins | CO |
| Cook | Riley | South Weber | UT |
| Cosens | Ryan | Costa Mesa | CA |
| Coyle | John | Logan | UT |
| Criscione | Jeremy | Gainesville | FL |
| Curley | Craig | Tucson | AZ |
| Davidson | Aaron | Lenexa | KS |
| Dewitt | John | Oshkosh | WI |
| Dialynas | Thomas | Denver | CO |
| Dworak | Brandon | Memphis | TN |
| Eggleston | Jeffrey | Boulder | CO |
| Finnel | Brian | Madison | WI |
| Freed | Jeremy | Longmont | CO |
| Fuentes | David | Austin | TX |
| Gray | Joseph | Colorado Springs | CO |
| Greeno | Dan | Minneapolis | MN |
| Grey | Matthew | Minneapolis | MN |
| Grey | Jonathan | Minneapolis | MN |
| Holt | Jason | Kaysville | UT |
| Hunt | Mitchell | Fremont | NE |
| Jeffreys | Tim | Brooklyn | NY |
| Kahn | Daniel | Houston | TX |
| Kamm | Connor | Nashville | TN |
| Keflezighi | Meb | San Diego | CA |
| Kerr | Daniel | Winston-Salem | NC |
| Kienzle | Ryan | Canton | OH |
| Krause | Elliot | Madison | WI |
| Kremske | Dan | Woodstock | IL |
| Krong | Jake | Salt Lake City | UT |
| Leak | Gregory | Steilacoom | WA |
| LeBlanc | Jarrett | Baton Rouge | LA |
| Leon | Craig | Eugene | OR |
| Llano | Matthew | Flagstaff | AZ |
| MacPherson | Scott | Columbia | MO |
| Marotz | Jake | Saint Paul | MN |
| Martin | Brent | Gambier | OH |
| Martin | Nathan | Spring Arbor | MI |
| McCandless | Tyler | Boulder | CO |
| Mercado | Diego | Eugene | OR |
| Moore | Joe | Manhattan | KS |
| Mott | Jonathan | Babson Park | FL |
| Munoz | Jose | San Antonio | TX |
| Nadler | Enoch | Richardson | TX |
| O'Connor | Kieran | Arlington | VA |
| Osman | Ahmed | Flagstaff | AZ |
| Payne | Ben | Ft Walton Beach | FL |
| Pennel | Tyler | Blowing Rock | NC |
| Petersen | Paul | Fort Collins | CO |
| Proctor | Seth | Orlando | FL |
| Proctor | Gabriel | Mammoth Lakes | CA |
| Puskedra | Luke | Beaverton | OR |
| Quigley | Sean | Lafayette | CO |
| Reina | Rio | Austin | TX |
| Reneau | Michael | Minneapolis | MN |
| Reyes | Sergio | Palmdale | CA |
| Ritchie | Tim | Brighton | MA |
| Rono | Aron | Beaverton | OR |
| Sathre | Benjamin | Chaska | MN |
| Sewald | Tyler | Greeley | CO |
| Sherman | Logan | Plano | TX |
| Siebach | Karl | Orem | UT |
| Sloane | Christopher | Gaithersburg | MD |
| Solis | Anthony | Sacramento | CA |
| Suver | Curtis | Colorado Springs | CO |
| Tapia | Daniel | Castroville | CA |
| Taylor | Justin | St Augustine | FL |
| Thor | Luka | Gretna | NE |
| Tunningley | Rory | Austin | TX |
| Vegh | Tibor | Raleigh | NC |
| Whitehead | Josh | Madison | AL |
| Wiley | Robert | Gurnee | IL |
| Wyatt | Verrelle | Akron | OH |
| York | Brandon | Madison | AL |
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