The race is officially three days away and I really can't wait for it to get here. For the most part, my training has gone really well and I feel prepared for this race. I'm antsy to get out there and see what I can do.

But as far as goals for this race, I'm having a hard time establishing them.

I've noticed in my running that when I set goals, I tend to do a million times worse than when I just go out and run for fun without a specific goal in mind. (Remember my crazy six minute PR back in September when I did a race on a whim?)



When I've gone into a race striving for a PR, I've bonked. When I've gone into a race to have fun, I've set PRs or finished mere seconds away from my PR.



That all makes me really leery to set a goal for this race.

Sure I have one in the back of my mind. There's a time I'd like to beat, but I'm worried that if I focus on it too much, I'll never get anywhere close.

On the flip side, I'm worried that if I don't pay enough attention, that I'll finish a minute or two over my goal time and be annoyed at myself for not trying harder, for not pushing it more and for failing to meet my goal.


So what do I do?

Do I go out there with my eye on the prize or do I take a more laid back approach and have fun with this race and let my time fall where it will?

I've been agonizing over this situation for days and I just don't know what approach I should take on race day.