2015 Race Schedule

Since it's nearly April, it seems like a good time to discuss my 2015 race schedule. At least it's in the first quarter of the year, right?

Thursday's sunrise at Back Bay. Sunrise = metaphor about the sun rising on my running plans for 2015 (or something like that, I just like stuffing my posts with photographic proof of how gorgeous CA is).

I spoke to Coach Jess on Thursday, catching up a bit and discussing my short and long-term racing plans. I loved working with her so much when I trained for the Chicago Marathon, but it was rough to have to balance NYC law firm life with training. Now that I'm feeling fairly settled into my law firm here in Orange County, I'm excited to start training with her this summer.

Jess and I sketched out a rough race plan for the remainder of 2015. Just voicing my ideas and goals to her got me excited, especially when she didn't think they were totally crazy. (Not that I'm trying to BQ this year or something, but I do have a fairly aggressive marathon goal.)

A disclaimer of sorts. For some reason I hate signing up for races. I put it off for as long as I can. I'll even start training for a race with every intention of running it and yet not sign up for a month. Case in point: I'm currently training for the Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Half Marathon but haven't yet signed up. I think I trained for Surf City for five or six weeks before I actually signed up. Races are so expensive and I just hate the thought of wasting a race entry fee if work gets crazy or I get injured.

So, while I haven't signed up for any of the following races, this is currently my plan for the rest of the year:

10K sometime between now and early May - I'm on the hunt for a 10K to race in place of a tempo run. I've never raced a 10K and would love to work on my mental game in a middle distance race. I have my eye on a few in April, but need to see how they work out with my schedule since none of them are close by.

Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Half-Marathon (May 31) - Part of my hesitation in signing up for races is probably because the ones I'm targeting are all fairly expensive. I've never run a Rock 'n' Roll race, but this one gets rave reviews from those who've run it, and I really like the course profile. The past three weeks of training have not been very promising, so right now my goal is just to take some time off my current 1:52 half marathon PR from Surf City.

I want to run a sub-1:50 half marathon this year, and while I'm just not sure it's in the cards for May 31, I'm going to try training for it and see what happens. Having a race on my calendar keeps me motivated. At worst, it should be a fun weekend in San Diego before Sourabh starts studying for the CA bar exam!

Summer of Shorter Distances - After spending a good two weeks recovering from RNR San Diego without any training plan whatsoever, I'm going to start working with Coach Jess to build a good base for a late fall marathon. I'm excited to race some shorter distances this summer. I'd love to take some more time off my 5K time from last year's Turkey Trot. I'm hoping to head up to WA for a weekend, too

Long Beach Half Marathon (October 11) - When I started 2015, I thought I'd make Long Beach my goal fall race. However, I realized a few things after Surf City.

First: I really like having a training plan. It gives my runs and workouts structure and makes me excited about hitting the gym and completing runs. I love running, but I'm the worst about lying in bed and not wanting to get up. But you add in the guilt factor of skipping a workout and it gets me up and out. Once I'm a mile in, I'm awake and loving life, but getting out there is the hart part.  

My natural inclination is to make like Mason and be lazy.

Second: running in SoCal is AMAZING. Even during the heat wave we had last September, it wasn't crazy hot in the early mornings. It's so rare that the weather is a factor in my running schedule here. Also, there are trails everywhere that I haven't even begun to explore, meaning there's less of a boredom factor when upping mileage.

Finally: work can get crazy here, just like it could in NYC, but my day-to-day is way more conducive to getting enough rest.

The upshot of all this? I'm ready to commit to training for another marathon. I still want to run Long Beach Half, however the plan is now for this to be more of a midway point check-in rather than a goal race. It could even end up being scrubbed if it just doesn't work out, but since I've heard great things about the race, I'm hoping to run it.

THE BIG ONE: California International Marathon (December 6) - I AM SO PSYCHED ABOUT THIS RACE. I was contemplating a few full marathons, the others being in early 2016, but after reading about CIM and asking some CIM "alums" what they thought of it, I was pretty convinced that it was the perfect marathon for me to run. Jess agreed during our call on Thursday, and I am SO excited. I wanted to take a lot of time before committing to a marathon, especially since the Chicago Marathon was so incredible for me in 2013, but I feel totally ready to rock the marathon distance once again. I'm hoping to make a fun weekend out of it, complete with carb-loading in San Francisco.

My goal for my second marathon? Sub-4. It would require me to take about 20 minutes off my first marathon time. Given my recent half marathons, I think it's a doable goal. Part of my hesitation in running another marathon was that I knew it wouldn't be as meaningful as Chicago had been, so I wanted my next marathon to be a big PR. I feel like I'm in a place where that's possible, and I'm excited to train for that.


Here's to the rest of 2015, big goals, and grand training plans!


Tell me: what are your big races for 2015? Have you run CIM? Are you running it this year? Want to come to Orange County and run 20 milers with me this summer/fall?