Great – you’ve signed up for the Half Marathon – your main goal is to finish!
However, you then get stuck into your training, and you begin to think about how fast you could possibly do this half marathon in… and you start to set some big goals!
With your first half marathon the only goal you should have is to finish, and to finish well, and not to feel completely wrecked at the end! You don’t want this to be the only half marathon you do… you want to go on and do more!
If you’re start putting time goals on yourself – that’s an awful amount of pressure to carry on your shoulders for 21.1kms. Once you’ve got one or two half marathons under your belt – then you a) know that you’re capable of running the distance, b) know how long it takes you to run that far, and c) have an idea of how much better or faster you could possibly go.
It’s good to work with a coach who will have a good idea of your potential as a runner and who will be able to train you to run for a particular time goal keeping in mind any limitations such as work commitments or your own personal strengths and weaknesses.