One unfortunate thing about living in CA is the lack of cheaper race events. New York Road Runners in NYC puts on a couple of races a month (mainly in Central Park). These are all chip-timed events and they used to run me $11 (plus the $35/year membership fee). That's $11 for a chip-timed half marathon with a finisher's t-shirt! I'd be willing to pay $11 for a chip-timed training run. Out here in California, every event runs about $50 on upwards. I'm not so willing to pay that much for a training run. So I have to be a little more discriminating. I'm only entering events out here that I have a real interest in soaking up the course or smacking down with a new PR.
Some races I'm tinkering with:
- Big Sur International Marathon; not a PR course so purely for the experience
- San Francisco Marathon (or more likely one of the half marathons)
- R'n'R San Jose Half Marathon; okay so I fibbed a tiny bit. I got suckered by early-bird registration and am signed up for 2009 already.
- Goofy's Race and a Half Challenge; I am hoping to do this again in 2010.
- Napa Valley Marathon; Ran this in 2008 and may do a Goofy/Napa repeat in 2010.
So that's what I'm thinking about. It's a pretty loose idea right now but at least it'll get the gears turning in my head. I am trying to balance races that I can't possibly PR at (e.g. Big Sur and Goofy) with races that I can actually train to run a good time (e.g. San Jose & Napa). I also wanted to try CIM one day, but don't think I'd like to couple it with Goofy the following month. So maybe CIM will go into the December 2010 slot. I penciled in a few other half marathons I'd like to try (e.g. See Jane, Kaiser, Mermaid) but will see how I'm feeling when the time comes.
Yesterday I went on an easy 2 miler. I'll probably run 3-4 tomorrow, then tackle Nike on Sunday. I'm going to be hitting up the expo tomorrow! I ran the Nike NYC Half in 2007. The expo for that race wasn't too grand because everything there was all about Nike. I much prefer seeing all the diverse vendors. But still, it's an expo!
8 comments:
I must have races on the horizon or I think I'd go nuts. And I hear ya on the cost of some races. That's why I prefer smaller events, which usually don't cost as much. One great thing about California, though, is that there are LOTS of races all year around. Good luck deciding!
I'm with you on the cost of races. Where I live, most of the races longer than a 10K cost $40 or more and cover the same routes I run every weekend for free. It's hard to get excited about something like that.
How about that run up in the redwoods ...
We are fortunate to have lots and lots of small runs of all lengths here - but no major, "Big" runs unless we go to Seattle of Vancouver, B.C.
Our club and also many of the parks dept's put on frequent runs for maybe $25 and you get a shirt and good food too!
Run, Roadbunner, run!
sounds like you have some good plans!! i like to plan down the road too and am already thinking of what i want to run next year!
good luck this weekend!!!
I have major thoughts planned out to August 2010 (*cough, cough*). I've got a good idea of the tris I want to do next year, but I'm feeling so up in the air about running only races! I think I want to see if I can get in to either the Nike Women's or New York, otherwise I may look at Victoria for a fall race. We'll see!
Good luck at Nike this weekend!!!
We might be running the same races again next year! Don't worry, I plan ahead, too. :-) Good luck Sunday!!
Wow, looks like some wonderful races you have for next year! I do hate the high cost of these races. I often think about what other stuff I could buy with the money that goes into the cost...But it does motivate me to run faster and better!
Post a Comment