Race Decisions

I don't know if anyone but me pays much attention to the sidebar of the blog on the right.  I only add races to the sidebar when I've actually registered.  I pretty much have the entire 2012 year planned out, but I'll save the big reveals for much later.

As far as races I've recently signed up for:

• Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Marathon 2012:  I was sent a wicked coupon code which made the price of this race a good deal (RnR events are notoriously expensive).  Can't say I ever had a desire to do this race so it was a total spontaneous move.  I went from not even thinking of this race to being registered in a matter of 30 minutes.  I coerced a handful of friends to sign up, too, so it should be a fun trip.  I love Seattle and can't wait to go back for another visit.  I am willing to strike this off the docket if things don't work out, but I'm hoping they will.
• Big Sur Marathon 2012:  I consider this race to be the marathon I plan to run every year for the rest of my marathon running life.  So I bit the bullet and signed up on opening day.
• ET 51K:  A slight change of plans happened.  I got cajoled into upgrading from the marathon distance to the 51K distance.  It wasn't like they had to twist my arm too much, though, for a few reasons.  First off, I'm flying out to Nevada for this race. The bigger of an event I can make it the better.  Two, it is a road 51K.  Road ultras are pretty rare and being a total trail weenie this may be one of my few shots to get an ultramarathon finished.  Three, the race is run near Area 51. To do a 51K out there appeals to the number geek in me.

In order to make room in my running schedule for a 51K I have slightly readjusted my goals for Half Moon Bay.  I was leaning more and more towards going for a PR at Half Moon Bay.  My paces have been consistently faster for all types of runs in this training cycle versus my Texas training cycle.  So I feel as if I probably have a good marathon in me if I can keep it up.  However, I don't want to force myself to do too much too soon after the 51K.  I want to have the option to lay low a week or two to recover.  I am not planning on setting any speed records at ET, but I'm sure the endeavour will set me back a bit.

Two Cities was always on my radar as a PR attempt (November 6th) so I've decided to declare that my next A-race.  I will be setting a semi-aggressive time goal for Half Moon Bay and who knows?  Maybe my legs will bounce back and I'll decide to go for it.  But I needed to free myself of that idea to make the 51K palatable.

So yeah, I'm going to do my first ultramarathon in 2.5 weeks!  Uhh...


I was asked what training plan I use.  I've been using a plan that Runner's World Smart Coach spit out for me back in 2009.  It has me running only 4 days a week which has kept my injuries down (I struggle, even now, with a few chronic issues).  Even though I'm only running 4 days a week, there are no low mileage days. As you can see I run a fairly moderately long distance every time out plus a long run.  Recently, I think Smart Coach retooled as I can't get the same plan to come out inputting the same info I usually do. I can try to get a post up showing the whole plan soon.

Oh, and yes, those shorts from my 20 miler are from Lulu (speed shorts).  I love them!