trying to think of a game plan

This morning I ran my last hard workout.  6 x 400 meters.  It was tough.  I wanted to try to go at a little faster than 5k pace, so average around 7:30min/miles.  Yep.  That didn't happen.  I went too fast.  This is a real problem of mine.  Though, I am thinking I am doing ok - each repeat time was fairly consistent, and my last was faster than every other repeat.

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	40:21.6	4.71	8:34
1	9:25.8	1.00	9:23
2	1:46.5	0.25	7:06
3	1:53.9	0.20	9:30
4	1:45.5	0.25	7:02
5	1:54.5	0.20	9:30
6	1:46.0	0.25	7:04
7	1:56.4	0.20	9:40
8	1:45.3	0.25	7:01
9	1:54.2	0.20	9:31
10	1:45.1	0.25	7:00
11	1:53.4	0.20	9:25
12	1:43.6	0.25	6:55
13	1:49.9	0.20	9:05
14	9:01.7	1.00	9:00

Race Plan:

I am now trying to work out with a game plan for the half marathon.  I was thinking of something like this:

• Miles 1 - 4 at a 9:00 - 9:10 min/mile
• Miles 4 - 10 at a 8:50 - 9:00 min/mile
• Miles 10 - 13.1 - keep pushing the pace

But then I think that seems so fast and crazy.  Can I do that?  It seems a little fast, but let's look at what I have done through this training cycle:

• Long runs averaging around 9:20 - 9:30min/mile.
• Pushing the last few miles of the long runs to around an 8:30min/mile
• Tempo runs around an 8:30 min/mile

But looking back through my training, I wish I had done a few more tempo runs.  I have one more coming up - a 30 minute run.  I may try and simulate the race.  Start at 9:00min/mile then push to an 8:50 and finish at around 8:30min/mile.  

Goals for this race:

1. I would love to PR - that means breaking 1:57:26.   I have trained a lot more intensely for this half than any other half I have completed.  However, I am expecting it to be humid and there is a hill.  I am ok if I don't break my PR, but I really want to!
2. Breaking 2 hours. I won't lie - I don't want to go back and be in the 2 hour range.  I have felt the feeling of being under, and I want to keep it alive!
3. Just finish without injury! This probably won't make me happy - but I guess I will have bling and will be able to learn from it for my next half.