2015 is my year of running for fun. No Earth-shattering goals. No PR dreams to chase. It’s good old-fashioned running “just because.”

But that doesn’t mean I’m not running a few races throughout the year. Tomorrow happens to be one of them – the Publix Savannah Women’s Half Marathon.

The truth is, I’m not very good at giving a less than best effort. I don’t do half-ass. Never have, never will. So, finding the balance of running without specific training/goals and participating in races sends my body, head and heart into a state of confusion. Typically, if I were running a half marathon, I would have just completed 16 to 18 weeks of hard training, including speed workouts, tempo runs, long runs and easy/recovery days. I would have been running 5 days a week and would be shooting to run as close to 1:35 as possible.

Tomorrow will be different. Tomorrow, I have no idea what will happen. I didn’t look at the weather forecast until this morning. I didn’t pack or prepare until today. I didn’t do weeks of speed intervals and key workouts with laser-focused paces. I didn’t run high mileage. (I’ve been remaining steady at 20-25 easy miles per week plus lots of cross training and strength work.)

I realize that not running the very fastest and strongest I am humanly capable of does not mean I still can’t give my best effort. Tomorrow, I will give my best effort based on where I am right now. These are my hopes for the race:

1. Support my good friend and coaching client Amy as she attempts to run another strong half marathon. This race is about a road trip with her and supporting her race goals. I’ve shared her story several times and she continues to inspire me. When we started working together a year and a half ago, she was 30 pounds overweight and had lots of great running goals but didn’t want to do the work to make them happen. Today, she has lost all that weight and is running paces and times she never thought were possible. Tomorrow is all about her, and I can’t wait!!!
2. Feel good and have fun. Above all, my goal is always to feel good during every race. There is nothing worse than a race that feels like a struggle-fest from the start.
3. Run under 1:50 – I’d be very happy with anything in the 1:40s. I honestly have no idea what I’m capable of tomorrow given my laid back training, but it will be fun to see how I feel and where I’m at. Although this would be about 10-13 minutes slower than my last half marathon, I think this is a reasonable goal. I haven’t felt good on a run in two weeks, so I hope I break that streak tomorrow.

You can follow our adventures of race weekend on social media. I hear my pal Amy is bringing a selfie stick, so watch out!

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Are you running or racing this weekend? Tell me about it!