Monday, December 28, 2009

2010 Race Calendar

Still practicing yoga, still running, and planning on doing even more of it in 2010 while bringing in a Project Management Class into the mix (8 of 9 Saturdays from January 23 to March 20). I'm going to cut down on the number of races, I think. I've run 20-30 each of the last two years. This year I'm going to concentrate on the ten mile, half marathon and marathon distances. I find them to be the most gratifying from a challenge, distance, endurance, you name it standpoint. I want to get under 4 hours in one of the three marathons I am planning next year. There will be lots of different training involved in 2010. More hill repeats and some track work are in the cards. More of that in future posts.

But this is really about the 2010 Race Calendar. Thinking about all the bad eating habits I picked up while in Dracut, MA for the holiday (everything else was great!) and how I can run them off, got me fired up about racing. Even though racing is at least 10 days off, I want to get motivated to become fitter than ever.

Here are my planned 2010 Races:

1. January through March: Races 3,4,6,7,8 in the Dc Roadrunners Snowball Series. These are free races for club members so the financial commitment is minimal (just annual dues). These fit my schedule too, as races 6,7,8 are on Sunday, which for a lot of the winter is my long run day due to class.

2. April 11, Cherry Pit run in Annapolis. A maybe, no more Cherry Blossom run for me.

3. April 18, Mountain Maryland Half Marathon in Cumberland, maybe. If travel $$ works out, I really liked this race last year.

4. April 25, GW Parkway Classic: classic ten miler, a yearly tradition. It helps that the running store I am most loyal to runs the event.

5. May 2, Frederick Half Marathon. The first half of the Maryland Double, this gets the nod over Pittsburgh and Flying Pig (Cincinnati) for ease of travel. A recent Running Times article recommended racing a half marathon four weeks out from a marathon, so there you have it. I really want to go back to Pittsburgh since I loved the race last year. But the travel costs thing. Flying Pig is ou because I don't have the leave to use on Monday.

6. May 30, Vermont Marathon. Boo yeah! Vermont! Hell Yeah! Green Mountains! Hell Yeah! Burlington! Hell YeaH! Family may be there! Hell Yeah! Marathon #2, I'm in training for it now, using a March 20 marathon training schedule until March 13, when I go on the May 30 schedule. They overlap nicely. Cannot wait for this one!

7. June 27, Boston 13.1. My hometown city! Yeah! I don't have to qualify! Yeah! The day after my 36th birthday, and since I can't party like I could in my 20s, so I'll run instead! Hell Yeah!

8. August 29, Annapolis Ten Miler Run. Should be mandatory for fall half marathoners and marathoners. Perfect race to gauge where you're at for: hills, bridges, unusually hot and humid temps (this race is run in an oven), and a competitive field. I've gotten faster, but I'm still surprised at the leader last year approaching mile 9 on his second run over the Navy Bridge while I has at mile 4.5 on my first run. GD! Dude finished in under 50 minutes, in that race. Unreal! Ordinary runners like me, use this as a gauge, peeps. Do not expect to approach your PR, this course would be harsh in perfect racing conditions.

9. September 12? Parks Half Marathon, if I do not go to Colorado for my annual trip.

10. October 2, Twin Cities Marathon. My first ever trip to Minnesota, and I'll be runnign a marathon. #3. Friends tried to talk me into going last year, but I wanted marathon #1 to be close to home and I didn't have $$$ in the travel budget. This year, I will have money, with help from a free flight possibility. Southwest, hook me up!

11. October 16, Baltimore Half, second part of the Maryland Double.

12. October 24, Army Ten Miler. I am kicking myself for selling my bib last year. This race is a lot of fun and draws good crowds.

13. November 14, Richmond Marathon. #4. Special meaning for me, they've had the half for two years, I ran both. One was my first half, the second was my 1:33:23 a few weeks ago. Next year, the whole marathon.

I'll also take part in the Crystal City 5K series on Fridays in April. Half my friends run in them, there's almost always post-race fun to be had, and I can use them as extra training. Tempo run or extended intervals, I'm thinking.

What races are you running? Any sort of hill repeats to recommend to me? Other kinds of training runs? Holler.

4 comments:

maryjanejeff said...

Changes already:

April 18 is now the St. Charles Marathon in Charles County - http://www.stcharleshalfmarathon.com/

Less travel costs involved. I enjoyed the Cumberland race but I need to best manage travel costs if I want to go to Minneapolis for the marathon, never mind my Colorado trip.

Rumor has it that there will be a half marathon across from the Wilson Bridge on September 19. Ah, that's a 10-14 mile run weekend, the start of the taper. Sounds like a good race to use as my final training run.

maryjanejeff said...

This will change 10 more times. Add (likely) a half marathon on May 9. Subtract June 27 in Boston. Possibly add one on August 22 in Minneapolis, a trial run for the TCM in October.

maryjanejeff said...

Whoops - add http://www.wilsonbridgehalf.com/index.html in September. Lots of changes, I guess.

maryjanejeff said...

Maryland Double not happening. I need to cut down on racing a bit if I even want to think about Colorado in September and Twin Cities.