Afton 25K Prep Run

A little break from my mental health posts to write a goal-setting post for my next race.

I figured I write down some goals after my last 15 mile+ run a couple weeks back,, followed by my run at Afton State Park. The first gave me some confidence, and the second provided a reality check.

While I was down in Norfolk, Nebraska, I had a route in mind to see what I might be able to do at the Afton 25K. In high school, when I was on the track team, we ran this route to get in a lot of hills, so I thought I’d give it a shot for my long run.

The above photo doesn’t do it justice, but the hills on this route are big. I ran just shy of 16 miles, eight or so on the steep hills. This run was good news. I ran it at a decent clip, and the foot and ankle injuries that have been bothering me didn’t act up at all.

I don’t want to get too confident though. Earlier this week I did a run at Afton State Park and remembered that as tough as the hills on my Norfolk run were, Afton’s are definitely tougher. So, I’ve decided to set goals that aren’t overly ambitious. Here they are:

A: Finish under an 8:15 / mile pace
B: Finish under a 8:30 / mile pace
C: Finish in an upright position

There they are. Here’s hoping tomorrow goes decent.