This fall training season will be the first one since Matt and I began training together that we will not be preparing for the same distance. He still plans to do long runs with me, but his focus will be on the shorter distances. After training for several years at the marathon, he believes that he's got more potential in the 5K and half marathon distances and would like to explore them. Right now, his marathon pace and 5K pace are less than 40 seconds apart. His 2:51 marathon predicts short distance times much faster than he can currently manage. Personally, I'm excited to see what he can do when he applies the same dedication to the shorter races. And that will only make him faster when he returns to the marathon.
As for me, I have my sights set again on that elusive BQ time. I will be following the same training strategy as before: three hard days (long run, marathon pace, and track/tempo work) and three easy, maxing out at a weekly mileage of 65. Ever since the cold I had a few weeks ago, it seems that my allergies have taken some time off. I hope this continues on through the fall and that race day will be a healthy one, unlike this spring at the Avenue of the Giants (I ran with a sinus infection I didn't know I had). For the first time in many marathons, Matt will be running alongside me every step of the race. I hope that my bad marathon karma has expired and that the stars will finally align, making my first BQ a team effort.
Of course, we'll be running several other races through training.
August 31: Sand Dollar Shuffle 5mi. Our club's only beach race. If my feet are feeling up for the challenge, I'd like to make this my first barefoot race.
September 8: Blue Lake 5K/10K. I'll probably run the 5K and see if I can make it in under 22 minutes.
September 22: Run the Rogue Half Marathon in Medford, OR. I'm especially excited about this race because its flat. All three of the local half marathons here have several hills, so I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do on an easier course.
October 6: Turtle Bay Half Marathon in Redding or Oct 27th's Weaver Basin Trail 30K. We'll see what Matt and I are in the mood for when the time comes.
October 20: Humboldt Redwoods Half Marathon. Club race with the locals and a few thousand of my closest tourist friends. Hanging out with my favorite Redwoods makes it even more fun.
November 9: Arcata Bottoms 3 and 8 miler. They begin 45 min apart, so I'll probably do both races, one as a warmup and the other racing. Odd distances, but it is a club race that I really enjoyed last year.
November 28: Turkey Trot 5K. This happens to fall during one of my most rested periods of the year: about 10 days before CIM. Rest=magic fastness. We'll see what I can pull off.
December 8: California International Marathon. No monsoons this year please, last year wasn't much fun that way.
Do you like running other races during training? How far in advance do you plan out your races?
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