FALL MARATHON!

I usually reserve my marathon purchases to land on my birthday, a birthday gift to myself, if you will. But this year, the Twin Cities Marathon opened their registration in mid-December, and I just couldn't wait until December 26th to pull the trigger.

So I registered, on opening day! And so did Toni. Expect to see a lot of #jeronirunsTCM hashtags over much of 2018.

And happy birthday to me!!

Milwaukee Marathon Race Plan

This spring I had a tiny moment of crazy in which I decided I was enjoying running enough that maybe I should run a fall marathon. Now if you were in my brain during the last marathon I did, you may recall that "never under any circumstances should I ever do this, ever again, unless I'm crazy fast, because this 5 hour marathon business suckkkkkks."

I was bopping around on marathon guide searching for midwest marathons in October and November, thinking that if maybe I found one late enough, I could be convinced to do it. I considered the Mankato Marathon, as I typically do, and it was a large front runner until I stumbled on to the Lakefront Marathon in Milwaukee in October. I quickly realized I could probably have a fun weekend with Renee and my other favorite Wisconsin chicks, when I discovered that there's a marathon in Milwaukee in NOVEMBER.  Yes yes yes, where do I sign.

So this November 6th, I'll be running my 8th marathon in Milwaukee and then eating cheese curds and drinking delicious local beers post race while watching the Packers play with my favorite cheeseheads. BEST RACE WEEKEND EVER, right??

I'm planning a non-traditional race plan for the marathon to see how my body holds up. I'm running the Sioux Falls half in September, so I'm working to have decent base mileage with a weekly speed session. Once the half is done, I'll have a short training cycle for Milwaukee. I did a similar plan for the Philadelphia Marathon in 2011, and it was one of my best marathons. I'm planning to get in two 16s, an 18, and a 20 before I taper.

Fingers crossed I can get to the starting line healthy and ready to go!

Week 3 of Spring Training

This week was low on "sticking to the training program" but high on "running inspiration" so it wasn't a total wash. I was sick early in the week, and when I was finally feeling good enough to go for a run, life smacked us in the face and running was the last thing on my mind. I was able to get out for a gorgeous 10 miles on Sunday and frolicked around town with a giant smile on my face. Week 4 is a scheduled cutback week, so I'm flipflopping week 3 and week 4, so I can redo my week 3 quality workouts. I did manage to get in a few core work sessions, so it wasn't a total wash!

On the running inspiration front, I have tentative race bestie weekend plans for next year to possibly run the Houston half or full (likely the full) after it was gorgeous and magical etc. etc. and our bestie lives there, so yeah, duh. Where do we sign up?? The guaranteed entry for qualified times for half and 10k requirements are slower than my PRs which has given me extra motivation for spring races to get back to my old speed. I'll be running 3 halfs and 1 10k before the cutoff, so consider a fire as having been lit under my hiney!

Additionally, I have been doing some planning regarding the fall marathon plans/ideas/shenanigans. Sorry, Danielle, it doesn't look like Chicago or Philly is in the cards.... this year. The more I look at the Bemidji Marathon the more I think it'll be the perfect race selection for me. It's about 5 hours north of here, so it should be nice and crisp mid-October. It's pretty darn flat, but not pancake flat like Fargo (which is actually hard because your muscles don't get any variation for 26.2 miles) but more like the flatness I'm used to running with mini tiny rollers to keep it interesting. My 18 week training program would start the day after my last planned race of this upcoming season, and my only race on the schedule--Sioux Falls half (my 10th consecutive SF half!!)--falls on a day where I'm scheduled to run 18 miles with 14 at GMP. Even if it's a hot day for the half, I should be able to knock out 14 miles at GMP. WHOOP! Most importantly, I've got Kyle on board to come along, because opening pheasant hunting season isn't until the following week (great planning there!) and my parents are planning to come and spectate barring any major issues in the next year. My parents have never got to see me run a marathon, so I'm pretty psyched. The race goes around the lake, so Kyle and my dad can get their fishing game on while they wait for me at the various spots. :)

I basically spent the afternoon on Sunday working on my training program to start in June. It's been awhile since I've had this sort of excitement for running. I sure hope it sticks around.

And my fastest mile of my long run on Sunday was the last one. Running the last 5 miles in o 35mph winds was less than fun, but it was still a way stronger run than last week's 10 miler! AND it was also in capris. WHOOP.