January 31, 2022

Racing Plans

Like I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I'm ready to sign up for a race--if only to push me to start training for *something*. An actual reason to lace up 3-4 times a week! 

My sister is the one who actually brought it up to me--she suggested that we do the Toledo Glass City Marathon Relay. I've done this race at least twice before and it's a great course.

For Jeanie's first marathon, she had a relay team set up to run along with her--so each of us took turns running a leg of her marathon next to her. I did the final leg, crossing the finish line with her, and it was awesome. She made it look so easy! (She actually wrote a guest post about her first marathon, which you can find here; she includes a lot of tips for first-timers.)


This time, there is no real special reason to do it. I just haven't run a race since 2018 and when she mentioned it, it got me thinking about it. The first thing I always tell people when they tell me they want to start running is to sign up for a race! It will be the push you need to do the work.

So, I took my own advice. If the relay with Jeanie didn't work out, I had a back-up plan (the Martian Meteor 10K (which is a race I've done several times and I really like it). However, Jeanie is still up for the relay. The relay is a five-person team, so we will have: Jeanie, me, Jerry, Audrey (who I've mentioned several times in the past), and possibly Nathan (my brother). I think it'll be super fun! And this team is one that couldn't care less about pace or our finishing time. We're all slow! (Well, except for Nathan.)

The race takes place on April 24, 2022, which is 12 weeks from now. Ordinarily, I would have written my training plan to include all 12 weeks, but since I thought Jerry and I would be running the Martian race, I thought we only had 8 weeks. So, I have two options: 1) just write up 4 extra weeks that we can do now to work on running 4 days a week before we start my Beginner's 10K Plan; or 2) start the 8-week plan now and then continue on in order to be more prepared for the relay. I'm learning toward the latter.

The distances are 3.4, 4.9, 6.6, 5.3, and 6.1 miles. So maybe I'll train up to 8 miles for my long run and then do either the 6.6 mile leg or the 6.1 mile leg. Once we know if Nathan is going to commit, we can plan out the legs and I can have a better idea.

(If you're unfamiliar, the way the relay works is that you have a team of five people who each run a particular distance (see the leg distances above) on the course. The first person starts at the starting line of the race, and then 3.4 miles in, the rest of our team will be waiting for them. That person stops and the next person starts running. And so on. Then the last person crosses the finish line.)

I really hope Nathan decides to do it--it'll be super fun with him! I can't really say that I miss racing, but I actually do miss the way it pushed me. Even when I didn't want to run, I just did it anyways because I had to in order to prepare.

It's like this DietBet Jerry and I are doing. Our first weigh-in is tomorrow, so even if I wanted to eat everything in the pantry tonight, I know I won't do it because I want to hit my weigh-in goal. I've had a really great week; even when we went out for pizza, I only had 1-1/2 slices. I'm hoping I get to see the 140s soon! Maybe by Valentine's Day.

I'll be doing almost all of my training on the treadmill for a while. Check out this snow we're supposed to get!


Nope nope nope! I'll find some good books to read and I'll do my running on the treadmill. I actually read SIX books this month! That's totally unheard of for me. (Unfortunately, I read them on the couch and not on the treadmill, but it's a start--haha.)

I'll end with the random fact of the day:


Tomorrow is February! I can't believe it.

4 comments:

  1. Holy cow did you guys end up actually getting that much snow?! We barely ever get the giant snowstorms, we're too close to Lake Michigan. Can't wait to follow your racing journey!

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  2. Hurrah for races and also crud. I have a writing retreat that weekend or I would have tried to join you. Hope the training goes well!

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  3. I'm going to be flying up to Traverse City to do a 25K trail race on April 23! Too bad that's nowhere near where you are. Relays are so much fun! I wish I knew more local running people to try to do a few for fun.

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  4. I used to do one race a month back in the day. It was so much fun (although not always in the moment). Finally back on the correct track to lose some weight again maybe eventually I'll get back to running, although I'm 10 years old now than the last round ;)

    ReplyDelete

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