What's Next?

Leading up to Fargo half, I suspected that race day wouldn't be a 100% effort for me. To mitigate my disappointment, I started to think of a back up plan if that was the case. I had planned to do a 10k for fun-ish in early June, and have since decided that it'll be my official substitute goal race for the spring (even though that's probably summer at that point). My marathon training will start in later June, so this gives me an opportunity to still have another attempt to post a race time that'll help me project a fall marathon goal race time.

Now fingers crossed that it doesn't feel like summer on race day! If so, I may drop to the 5k, which would still be fun.

There's also a 5k the following weekend in my little town that features bacon and bloody Mary's post race. And the money goes to help with Junior Achievement. So why not race on back to back weekends? My thoughts exactly!

And THEN Strava and NYRR announced a 1 mile virtual race challenge. Well that sounds like fun too. So sometime during this 8 day span, I'd also like to do a 1 mile time trial. LOLZ. This'll either be the most fun 8 days or the worst idea I've ever had.

Stay tuned.

Spring Race Plans

One of my favorite parts of running is planning out my racing schedule, and it's that time again! This spring, my focus is on a speedier half marathon. I'm hoping I can come close to my PR in the half, or maybe squeak out a new one and I'm giving myself two chances to do it!

I plan to run the 605 Half Marathon in late April. It's a very flat course, that I run almost every weekend for my long run, and it's put on by my buddies at the 605 Running Co. If the weather is as perfect as last year, look out PR! I'm coming for you.

A group of us also signed up for the Fargo Half Marathon. I did the marathon in 2011 and it was such a fun experience that I really want to go back, but only for 13.1. You'd have to pay me to train for a marathon through our winters and then race on a warm spring day. Hard pass. The group of us gals are all shooting for a low 1:50/sub 1:50 so it'll be really fun to train hard and see what we can do. I also like Fargo because it's a Saturday, so it's fun to go out that night to celebrate! Runners gone wild! Lolz.

I'll run a few shorter races as well, but I am focusing on racing less this spring compared to last spring. Last spring I *may* have been overarching (I definitely over raced). I plan to run the Frostbite 4 Mile in early February. I really enjoyed this race last year, and arguably it was one of my better performances for all of 2018. I like to see where my speed is at before training starts so I can see where my speed paces should be. I also like that there are 4 courses that they choose from based on the wind since it's in the dead of winter.

I also plan to run the Chilly Cheeks 5 mile in early April as a tune up race for the 605 Half Marathon. Why are all these races indicating that it's cold as balls here? Oh. Because it is. I think I can run 4 and 5 mile PRs this spring, so that's fun!

So just four races, and hopefully a lot of strong training miles with zero time off for sickness and/or injury. I think I hit my max of being sick in November so I should be good for a few years!

What's on your schedule?!?

Late Fall Race Plans

It's that time in the goal training cycle where I can't help but think about other races. It helps take my mind off of the crazy that is running 26.2 miles. Why do we do this?!?

There are some fun shorter races that I would like to do to close out the last few months of 2018, assuming my legs recover in a timely fashion after 26.2 miles. Did I mention I'm running 26.2 miles soon?!?! UFF DA.

10/27 Trick or Treat
5k/10k I'm not sure what distance I'd do. It'll depend how I'm feeling, I think. I'd like to run a strong 10k, but I think that might be a stretch.

11/11 Christmas Tree Dash
There is a 3 mile, 2 mile, and 1 mile distance for this race. I don't know what distance I'll run, but I don't think I want to do a 3 mile. The parks and rec "5ks" are typically 3 miles, so I'd be curious what I could run in the other two distances. I always have to work this race weekend, so I'd be excited to give it a go!

11/24 Banquet 10k
Until last year, I had never ran this race. It was so great last year, and so cool to see so many families come together to donate money to the banquet before spending the rest of their holiday together. I think I can run a pretty speedy 10k by this time, and might be a good indicator of how my December half will shake out!

12/9 Dallas Half Marathon
I'm so excited to get back down south and run this race and spend some time with Dominique. She's the best running friend, and I wish she lived closer so we could be less virtual running buddies and more IRL running buddies!

Recent Realization

This post was supposed to be about my Sioux Falls Parks & Rec 5k Goals for tonight. But instead it's a post about over-racing. I am someone who loves to race. This winter/spring it was so fun setting multiple PRs--1 mile, 4 mile, 5 mile, wahoo! And while I think I did a good job of fitting those races into our training plan, I suspect that I have been over-racing a bit. Oops.

I've been listening to a ton of training podcasts and continuing to read a bunch of training books, and one of them recently struck me. It talked about 2-3 goal races a year. Uh... we've had 2-3 goal races just from April to June. :/ When we signed up for Grandma's Half, we had also planned to do the Brookings half, assuming one would be better weather than the other, and it would give us two good shots for a strong race day. And then 605 Running Co. announced their first ever spring half, and we just had to sign up for that too. And we had that Chicago half marathon fun run in January, and a bunch of little tune up races along the way. Uff da, I'm tired just typing all of this!

When I was first getting back into running again a few years ago, I had a blast doing the summer and fall 5k series put on by the city. They were a huge mental boost to see where my training was, and also a good excuse for me to run hard for 3 miles each week for speed work. In those early days, that speed work was around 9 minute pace, maybe faster, so it wasn't a big deal to recover from. Somewhere in the last 6 months I think I failed to take into account race recovery. I enjoyed racing on tired legs because I wasn't specifically tapering for my goal race, and being thrilled with the results.

I had originally planned to run the 5k tonight, as it's the only 5k of the June series that doesn't conflict with the half. And then I realized that this is my last big-ish week of training for this cycle, and it's more important that I get some strong miles in without overly taxing my legs for race day. So no 5k for me.

I'm glad I had this realization now instead of later in the year as the marathon gets closer. It's also helping me to see our 2019 race plan in a new light. I guess this is why people have coaches, huh? :)

Spring Race Plans

Every time I get in the thick of my race training, I always start to think about "what's next."  I had tentatively planned for the Eugene Marathon next spring, but after it got switched to the summer, I was no longer interested.  I obviously don't have to decide any time soon, but I'm a big planner, so it's nice to think in advance.

Here are some of my options:

1. Oz/Garmin Marathon in Olathe, KS.  I think I have Dominique on board for doing it if I decide to, plus it's a short drive from Kyle's bestie, so I think we'd have a place to stay, plus a super fun celebratory weekend.  The drive is about 5 hours which isn't terrible.  It's the end of April so it should still be cool, but being 5 hours south of here, it could be warm, and likely humid.  Possibly windy....
2. Lincoln Marathon in Lincoln, NE.  Niki is trying to twist my arm on this one.  I could hang out and stay with her, meet her adorable TWINS, and enjoy a fairly flat marathon course.  It's the first weekend in May, so again it could be warm, humid, windy or all of the above.
3. Brookings Marathon in Brookings, SD.  Meh.  My parents, Kyle's parents, and friends could spectate which would be awesome.  Kyle (or Megan, if she's not running the full/half) could probably bike sherpa for me if I asked really sweetly.  The downside:  it's always windy.  It's a pretty small race, so parts would probably be me running alone.  And I kind of like marathons to be destination-esque, because they're still a pretty big deal to me.
4. Fargo Marathon in Fargo, ND.  The race was moved up a weekend which actually appeals to me.  The course is crazy flat, and the spectators are out of this world.  It was super fun in 2011 (despite a shitty race) because SO MANY of my runner friends did it, that I'm afraid it wouldn't be that great if no one else did it.  Perhaps I'll start campaigning now....
5. Brookings half.  Maybe I'll go the spring half marathon route?  Attempt a few halfs in the spring, but keep the higher mileage to see if that helps me knock some time off my PR?  I did really enjoy the half course in 2012.  If I went this route, I'd probably try to do a half in Mpls in March, and another in St. Cloud in April.

Where are you racing this spring?  Would you like my company??  Now's your time to campaign!! :D