Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Summer/Fall racing schedule

Now that summer is officially here, it's time to finalize my Fall racing plans:
6/25- Race to the Courthouse 5K (local)- Doubtful
7/4- Peavine Falls Run (8.2) (local)- Probable
7/23- Twilight Retro 5K-(local) Questionable
8/20- Are U Able 5K (local)-Questionable
9/4- Gatorade Steelers 5K (PA)- In
10/1- Montgomery half (AL)- In
10/16- Louisville half(KY)- In
11/5- Vulcan/Senior Bowl 10K(AL)- Questionable
11/19- White River Marathon(AR)- Probable
12/20- Jacksonville Bank half(FL)- Doubtful
That's a heavy schedule but there's no way that I'll end up doing all of these. One of my goals is to run over 2,000 miles in a calendar year and the more I race, the fewer miles I will train. 2009 was my best running year of my comeback and I only raced twice in the final 3 months of the year. Of course, I want 2011 to be better on all accounts.
5Ks- PRs can bet set alone on a track but I'd like to make it official. Perfect conditions such as favorable weather, close competition, flat course, A+ stuff are hard to come by.

Courthouse- may not be hot but certainly humid. Flat enough course but not usually competitive. Will probably skip it but could change my mind if I feel exceptionally strong when I wake up.

Twilight Retro- Evening race. Got lucky with the weather 2 years ago (below 80 and dry). I set a big PR. Most years however, it's either 95 and dry or 80 and steamy. Pick your poison. That said, it's always competitive and flat enough to be a PR course.

Are U Able- Also flat enough to be a PR course but weather and lack of competition could be issues. More inclined to do it if I skip Retro or perform poorly there.

Gatorade- flat, competitive, probably not hot, finish in Heinz Field.

Monty half- more for fun to see old friends. Fairly hilly and could be a bit warm.

Louisville- PR or sub-1:30 attempt. Flat and cool. First Kentucky race.

Vulcan/Senior Bowl- I'm willing to travel to Mobile if I feel I have a legitimate chance at a sub-40. If not, I can race locally or do a 20 mile training run.

White River- First Arkansas race. Good opportunity to improve soft marathon PR. I've raced the distance 3 times and have never been healthy at the start line. Calculators say I can run 3:15-3:20 but I'll take anything under 3:30.

Jacksonville- strictly a back up in case of a missed race due to injury/illness.

If all goes as planned, I will run 5 halves and 1 full in 2011. I've never done more than 3 halves or 1 full. The focus on distance will continue in early 2012. Austin, TX will be perhaps my best hope at sub-1:30 because it's mostly downhill. Then, after Mercedes in February, I will shift to heavy speed. With every passing year after 30, my sprinting will decline slowly and 59.9 will be extremely difficult. As for marathons, I may not do any in 2012-13 because I'll need a 3:05 to BQ and realistically, I don't see that happening no matter how well I train. When I'm in my late 30s, I will shift back to long distance.

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