A 13.1 Mile Double Down

It’s time to Double Down.

And no, I’m not heading to the casino.

Instead, I’m doing something only slightly less foolish this weekend–I’m running 2 different half marathons in the same day. That’s right yall, I’ll be toeing the line at 7 am for the Red Ribbon Half Marathon here in Lakeland. At 10 pm the gun goes off again, this time for Disney’s Wine and Dine Half Marathon.

The Logic

Crazy? Indeed. Foolish? Possibly.

But there is, believe it or not, a method to my madness.

I signed up for the Wine and Dine in March. I’ve run this race each of the first three years the race has been in existence, and I love it! I love the course, I love running at night, and I love the atmosphere surrounding the event. Even though I don’t much care for the big races, this race will always be on my race calendar. And in a private moment of complete honesty, I’d love to be one of the people that has run this event every year for 10, 20, or however many years the race continues to be run.

In the spring, it was announced that Lakeland was going to host a half of its own. And my luck, it fell on the same day as Wine and Dine. I wasn’t planning on signing up, but a lot of the people I run with were thinking about it. Then, on national running day, they cut the entry fee in half.

Challenge accepted.

I signed up for the race, and started talking up my half marathon Double Down. And this weekend, it’s time to put up or shut up.

The Goal

Here is where things get a bit murkier. I’m not at all worried about finishing both races. I mean shoot, I just ran my last full a couple of weeks ago, so I know I can handle the 26.2.

But I’m not just trying to finish both events.

You see, I’ve run 5 other half marathons, and I’ve PR’d in each of them. And I’m not willingly going to break that streak. So the goal is to PR twice on Saturday.

Lofty? You bet. Possible? I think so.

You see, my current PR is less than impressive. Right now, it is 1:53:18, which I ran in February without much of any specific race training. I’m confident that if I was only running one race this weekend, I’d knock about 10 minutes off that time. But here’s the thing, I know I can’t run a 1:43 in the morning and follow that up with a 1:42 12 hours later. So I’m going to have to be strategic. The goal is to run between 1:52:30 and 1:53 flat in the morning and hopefully have enough left in the tank to run a 1:52 flat that night.

Tough to do, yes. But I’m going to give it a shot.

Here Goes Nothing

I’m really looking forward to the challenge this weekend.

I’ll be honest, I’m a bit nervous about keeping my PR string going. But if I get a few miles in and my legs aren’t having it, that’s ok too! I mean, I will be running a race at Disney. So it’ll just be time to slow down, enjoy the atmosphere, and maybe pose for a few character pics. It could be a lot worse, eh?

Have You Ever Done a Double Before? Thoughts, Tips, Advice? Please Share!