*Belated* Friday Favorites: Helvetia

**With my hectic schedule and traveling to PDX on Friday, I didn't post my "Friday Favorites" about Helvetia. I hate when I forget to post stuff!**

I am sure you have read about my love for the Helvetia ½ Marathon a million times. I apologize in advance, but I really do love this race! Last year Helvetia was my first DNS. To go to the race and not run was tough for me. I wanted to run so stinking bad. This year, I am coming for you Helvetia! 

Read about my 2011 race recap here

My top 5 favorite things about running Helvetia:

I get to run it with my best friend.

I love the challenging aspect of the course. There are a lot of hills, but the course is beautiful.

The race is put on by “Run with Paula” who co-owns the Portland Running Company with her husband, Dave. Every race I have attended that is put on by her is fabulous. A lot of race directors could learn a thing or two from Paula & Dave.

The atmosphere surrounding this event is pretty spectacular in general.

At the end you get one of the “world famous” Helvetia hamburgers. It really is one of the best hamburgers I have ever had. I don’t want to know what is in their “secret” sauce, but it rocks.

Race goals:

I know that I should have some goals for this race, but I don’t. My main goal is trying to get my pacing in check. I have really been stinking at pacing myself lately.

When I ran Helvetia in 2011 (read about my breakthrough here) my pacing was perfectly in check. I started out at a 7:45 pace and had lots left over in the tank. I am not 100% positive that my fitness is where it was at in 2011. I know, I know, I just ran a marathon 3 weeks ago. A half marathon should be a piece of cake!!! However, my marathon was pancake flat, hence I haven't been running hills and there is a lot of them sprinkled throughout the Helvetia course.  At least in 2011 I went into the race with several hill workouts under my belt. This time I have ZERO. To say that I am pretty worried about the hills is an understatement!

With all of that being said my current race plan is to start out super conservative. I am not 100% sure, but I am leaning towards a 7:50-8:00 minute pace for the first 5K. If I can maintain that and get through a majority of the hills, then I should be good to finish the last 5K at a decent clip. This race will mark my longest run with my metatarsal pads. My feet are feeling pretty happy now, but that could change. I will be wearing my Adrenalines and not any of my Pure Project shoes so hopefully that will make a positive impact. I am not looking to PR by any means. This is not an "A" race for me. Would I like to best or beat my 1:36:XX from 2011??? You bet! If I don't it won't be the end of the world. Most important thing and the big goal is having a consistent pace, having no feet pain, running by feel, and HAVING FUN!!!!!

Final thoughts:

I need to give my fitness level more credit. I just ran a freaking marathon so I have the distance and speed work under my belt. I feel like one of my more recent pitfalls when it comes to running has been my negative attitude.

Is running a half marathon for time 3 weeks post marathon a good idea? Probably not. That is why I think just getting my pacing under control will be the most important thing. If I can nail my pacing then no matter what my time ends up being, the race will have been a success.

Let's chat-
Who is racing raced this weekend?
What do you think is the key for running an organized race?
Which is the most organized race you have ever participated in?

**Now that you read about my love/obsession for Helvetia, I will work on my race recap**

--Tasha