My Upcoming Race Plans

So now that the Chicago Marathon is over, it's time for me to start thinking about what races I want to do next.

When it comes to races other than marathons, I'm usually a "decide a few days before and register at the last minute type of person."  And I'm sure I'll continue to do that, but I also want to pick a few races to specifically train for.

So currently, here are the races on my schedule:

10/27 - St. Louis Rock 'N Roll Half Marathon -  That's this Sunday!  My brother's girlfriend Erin decided to run her first half marathon so I made her a training plan that her and her mom (who also decided to run her first half!) have been following.  The three of us bought matching tank tops to wear in the race and I'm planning to run with Erin the whole time to help her through it.

11/28 - Edison Park Turkey Trot - Catherine and I have run this turkey trot together every year since high school.  It's a 5k race, not even timed (well, there's a clock, but no chips or awards or anything like that), and we have been running it Bandit-style the last few years...literally.  Our high school mascot was the Bandits and we acquired some jerseys, paired it with tiger print shorts, and turkey headbands, and the "Bandit Turkey Tiger" was born.

So that's not really a race to train for, we just run it together for fun.  But I think I have decided on my next real race to train for/try to PR at.  And that is:

1/19 - Phoenix Rock 'N Roll Half Marathon - My UD friend Molly lives in Phoenix and is running the full marathon.  And then I found out another UD friend Emma just moved to Phoenix and her BFF Liz (who is also one of my good friends and I ran XC with at Dayton) said she'd come out for that weekend and run it too!  A half marathon right around this time would be perfect because it will give me 12 weeks to train, starting Monday.  I haven't registered or booked a flight yet, but I'm thinking I will soon after I discuss plans more with Liz, Molly, and Emma.  Hopefully it will keep me training hard as the weather gets colder and will be a fun long weekend!

But then...the big question...what marathon will I do next?  Why am I already thinking about another one in the first place?  I go back and forth between saying "I never want to run that far again" and "I could run even faster."

I decided I won't do a marathon at least until the spring, probably April or May.  Ideally my next marathon will be:

4/21 - Boston Marathon - But it's already closed.  How can I run it?  I will tell you how.  I entered a contest sponsored by PowerBar for anyone who has a valid qualifying time but did not get to register.  The Chicago Marathon was a few weeks after the Boston Marathon filled, so I would not otherwise have a chance to run it until 2015.  And given all that happened this past year, I think 2014 will be THE year to run it.  I'll save sharing the link to my entry until Facebook voting is active from 11/1 - 11/10, but just a heads up!

Four runners will be selected based on Facebook votes and a panel of judges.  As of this morning there were about 160 entries (with 2 more days to enter).  So winning this contest would obviously be my first option, but in case that doesn't work out, here are my options for a spring marathon:

4/6 - Go! St. Louis Marathon
4/19 - Louisville Derby Festival Marathon
4/26 - Illinois Marathon
5/4 - Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon
5/18 - Cleveland Marathon

I chose a few options all within driving distance on different weekends and probably wouldn't commit to one for awhile still.  I have quite a few weddings next summer, so my spring weekends will be filled with bridal showers and bachelorette parties.  Until I find out dates for those special events, I can't commit to a marathon yet...and just hope that at least one of these options will work.  But let's go for Boston as a first choice - the Monday of Easter weekend - shouldn't be any bridal events then.

And depending on which spring marathon I do, I also might want to try to run another half, particularly this one if the timing works out:

4/5 - Lincoln Presidential Half Marathon - It's in driving distance, in the spring, a small race, and age group winners win a trophy shaped like the bust of Lincoln.  That's the real reason I want to do it and will race hard.  That bad boy would look great on my dresser or on my desk at work.

Other than those, I'm sure some other 5Ks, 10Ks, or half marathons will pop up...like the Ditka Dash 5K.  I want to do that one if someone will do it with me!

Let me know if you have any other good suggestions or want a visitor wherever you live!  I'd gladly travel somewhere for a new race  :)  My Aunt Sonja was pushing for me to come visit them in Anchorage in June for the marathon there, but I am already committed to a wedding that weekend so an Alaskan race will have to wait.