Custom Search

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Summer Race Schedule and GOALS

To snap out of my running funk, I took (some of) your advice and decided to check out some upcoming races. I planned to jump-start everything with a 5k this very morning, held literally outside the door of my in-law's home in Bay St. Louis. WE could combine a race with a beach vacation! We drove an hour and a half through traffic to get there last night, and my hubby realized he forgot my travel bag. I had no clothes, no bathing suit, no running shoes, nothing. So we turned around and drove all the way home, and I yelled at the hubby for most of the ride.* So that was our Friday night.
 This morning I looked over upcoming races, and I pretty much have to settle for 5ks or 1 miles. So here's what's coming up:
Bubba Gump Shrimp 5k, May 1st.
Greek Fest 5k, May 27. A Friday night race that includes entry to the Greek Fest. Last year I had a stomach bug and threw up during the race. Then I ate Greek food all night and threw up again the next day. Ah, memories.
Free for all!!!! The New Orleans Track Club has a series of free 2-mile races throughout the summer. They're at 7 pm on week nights: perfect for my work schedule.
The next "long" race is an as-yet-unscheduled 10 miler in September. It should ease the way into a season of half-marathons and marathons.
So...
My goals for this year (!!! If I put it on the interweb it must come true !!!)...
Summer:
1. Run a 5k under 21 minutes. This is actually kind of conservative but I am so bad at 5k's I want to give myself a chance; plus the summer heat and humidity really kills my speed. So for me, this will be very difficult.
2. Run one of the free 2 milers in 13:15. Same reasoning as above.
3. Get huge muscles. The gym is air conditioned at least, and my gym is really close to my new job.
4. Lose extra fat. I'm not overweight, but if I want to stack up PR's I need to be really lean. This will be a challenge for me since I'm already very close to goal weight and I have a sluggish metabolism (I only have a tiny part of my thyroid). I haven't formulated a plan for this yet but I think it might involve making David eat the huge bag of chocolates stashed under my desk.
Fall:
I don't have a race schedule yet, but here are a few loose goals:
1. Run a half-marathon in 1: 36 or under. Now this is getting brave. The handy-dandy Mcmillan calculator tells me I'm out of my mind.
2. Qualify for the NYC marathon at either a marathon or half marathon. This is getting REALLY lofty. My marathon PR is 3:27  under ideal conditions (flat course, great weather, normal stomach). I'd have to run a 3:23. But I think I have a 3:23 in me. I could also qualify with a 1:37 half, so I could combine this goal with the first goal. I actually think the marathon would be easier for me - the longer the race, the better I tend to do.
So there you have it. Big goals that need big plans. When I get my plans together, I'll share those, too.
Have an awesome weekend!
*Everything is ok now. I apologized for yelling and David bought almond croissants from the patisserie down the street so we're even.

3 comments:

  1. Ahhhh I have run the Bubba Gump 5k! LOVE it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think planning races for the future is a great way to get back on track! We once went skiing to Whistler (quite a ways from our house) & Michael magically remembered his own skis, but not mine. Sitting right next to his in the garage. . . I got to stand in line for 90 minutes to rent crappy skis & I was thrilled with him. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. That is a good set of goals! Putting together a race plan tends to help my motivation. I haven't really done that yet because I just want to get thru this exam in June. Then after that I will start making some plans for racing. The only race I've got planned is a 10k in July.

    ReplyDelete