Races and paces: Run-up to Oklahoma City

In all the fuss about finding a new place to live and a new job, and in between all the races I've done lately, I've almost forgotten about the half marathon I'm running in Oklahoma City April 26.

I feel like I'm under-trained for this one, at least under-trained distance wise. I have not done a run of at least 13 miles since I ran the Cowtown Marathon on Feb. 28 in Fort Worth. I have logged 7 runs of at least 9 miles since then, so maybe that'll help.

I do feel fast, even faster than I was before I ran a 1:36:01 half marathon at Lake Benbrook on Jan. 31. In the last three weekends, I've popped a PR in a 10k and consecutive sub 20-minute 5Ks.

But yes, I know, the half marathon is a different kind of race. Originally, I was going to try to run a 1:30 at Oklahoma City. That's a 6:52-mile. That would qualify me to run the New York City Marathon this fall. All the charts and all the V02Max tables say I have it in me. I'm also back up to 40 miles a week, which is a good maintenance number for me to keep my fitness.

More important, I've hit 6:52 (or better - mostly better) on my tempo-run mile-splits in many training runs. And this morning was no different. After a 1-mile warmup, my mile splits went like this 7:06; 6:39; 7:02; 6:44; and 6:42.

So, yeah, I've got the leg-turnover for a 1:30 half marathon.

I just don't know if I'll have the wind in my lungs and the endurance in my legs.

It's got me wishing I would have turned some of those 9 and 10-mile runs into 12- and 13-mile runs.