The Great Illini 1/2 IM Goals

All week I've been trying to come up with some goals for my 1/2 IM tomorrow. I think I've got my time goals nailed down and I feel like they're pretty reasonable. I also have a few race goals in mind as well that I will share. I need to mention that I'm sitting here with a HUGE smile on my face because I get to compete in my first 1/2 IM tomorrow. I get to do something that I've been looking forward to since last December. I'm healthy and ready to go and that's kind of a big deal. I'm totally celebrating this accomplishment before I even get to do it...so, here are my goals.

Goal Times
Swim ~ 0:45:00
T1 ~ 0:02:30
Bike ~ 3:15:00
T2 ~ 0:02:00
Run ~ 2:20:00

Total Time ~ 6:24:30

As far as the race goals are concerned there is really only one that I've had floating around in my head all week. I want to really enjoy and be smiling during this race. I want to smile during the swim because I've really been able to conquer my OW swim issues and I'm going to be able to swim 1.2 miles in a lake without freaking out. I want to smile when I'm out riding 56 miles of hills and cornfields because I've finally bonded with Oscar the silver bike and I've learned that spending long hours in the saddle provides so many rewards. I want to smile when I'm out on the 13.1 run course because I've run lots of 1/2 marathons and I know that I can do them and running is just fun. So yeah, that's my big race goal...

to totally and completely enjoy this race, to smile throughout the entire course, and to have a huge cheesy grin when I cross the finish line.

I'll be sure and post my race report on Monday.