I wanted to post this thread to get some opinions, thoughts, and suggestions of this plan. But most importantly, to answer the question in the title. Which half should I race?

Here's the plan;

September 21st, Hartselle Half, in Hartselle, Alabama, inaugural race that is part of a local town's Depot Days Festival which normally has a 5k. Proceeds will go to local charity. They are working on a website that hasn't launched yet, but they do have a Facebook site, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hartselle-Half-Marathon/537656499589976?ref=stream. This will be a very small race capped at 300 runners, and will be on some county roads through the country, with the start and finish being in town. It will be hilly, but not sure how hilly, people have been asking about the course, but I don't think it's published yet. There will be a lot of my running friends running this one.

October 26th, Life Without Limits Half,  http://www.ucprun.com/ , in Florence, Alabama. This race has been going on for several years with benefits going to the United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) of Northwest Alabama. This is a relatively flat course, but has 2 bridge crossings. Each mile marker has a picture of one of the kids. I had planned to run this one last year, but had some medical reasons that prevented it (mentioned below).

November 9th, Huntsville Half in Huntsville, Alabama,  I couldn't find a website, but here's a link. http://www.halfmarathons.net/usa_half_marathons_alabama_huntsville_half_marathon.html. This was my very first Half back in 2011, very well organized, benefits some different charities for veterans. Flat at fast out and back course with a couple of small hills.

December 14th, Rocket City Marathon, Huntsville, Alabama, http://runrocketcity.com/ , this will be the 37th annual race and my first full. I volunteered at this race in 2011. This race is capped at 1500 and runs through the downtown area and includes neighborhoods and a greenway. I basically want to do at least one full, and I'm not getting any younger.

Now for a little background; I'm 52, been running for almost 5 years, played baseball through school, run track in junior high, living with Crohn's Disease for over 22 years, colon cancer survivor (colon resection surgery was Aug 2012), hernia surgery in Feb 2011, dealt with shin splints, and a calf tear. I've run 4 halves with my best being 1:51:33, quite a few 5k's with PR of 23:36, couple of 10k's and a 15k. I honestly think the half is the distance that I like the most, and hope to remain healthy to continue running them. I have a solid base that averages around 28 mpw, with low in the teens, and peaks in the 40's.

I haven't decided on a FM plan yet, I have a few printed out, and will be doing some more research on them. I'm certain that all 3 of the halves will fall within the FM plan somewhere. I plan to use the Ryan Hall 10wk HM plan for the goal half; it will be mixed, altered, adjusted with whichever FM plan that I decide on. I want to do one of the halves as an all out goal race, use the other 2 as training/LR's, and for the full, just finish upright with a tentative loose goal of 4:20-4:40 even though the calculators say I should be able to go sub 4. I am secretly seeking out a Half Fanatic status too, and would love to run another half in January and February. So my questions;

Which half should I race?

Does anyone have a similar experience? Would you mind sharing?

Can you recommend a full marathon plan?

Which half plan do you prefer?

Thoughts or opinions?

Feel free to ask questions if you need to.

Thank you,

Mitch

Question...at the end of the day, which is the goal which matters most to you -- HM PR or best performance in the marathon?