I’ve only signed up for a few races so far in 2014, but there is one big race on my horizon…
I am officially signed up for my first marathon! I will be running the Pittsburgh Marathon on May 4, 2014, just 137 days away! I made the decision to start training for a marathon after I did the Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon in October, but I had to officially make the switch from the half to the full. Because of this new goal, I’m re-evaluating the other races I will do in 2014, especially leading up to the marathon.
Currently on the schedule for 2014
February 7-8, Ragnar Relay: Miami to Key West, FL
This will be my second 200 mile relay, with almost the exact same crew as I did the first one with. We’ve been planning for this race for close to a year and as of right now, I’m scheduled to run about 16 miles over 3 legs (8-6-2).
March 23, Spartan Sprint Carolinas
I signed up for this race months ago with one of my soccer friends. I’ve done various obstacle races in the past, so this is definitely right up my alley, but I’m just going to run this one for fun with the goal of staying safe throughout the race – obstacle races can be certainly be hazardous to your health… I’ve heard of people breaking their leg and know someone who got tripped as she was jumping over a fire obstacle and burned her arms, so this race will definitely just be for fun!
March 29, Run the Bluegrass Half Marathon: Lexington, KY
I wanted to add a half marathon in the middle of my training plan, so I decided to see what state I could check off my list! This one will require some shifting of my planned long runs, but with the relay in February, I wanted to add something in March to test out my training in a real race situation. I’m still tweaking how I start a race since I am planning to continue the run/walk/run plan – it’s so hard to start walking just a couple of minutes into the race, so this will be another chance to try to execute it in a race the same way I do in my training runs.
May 4, Pittsburgh Marathon
This is my goal race for the first half of the year, so all of my training is going to focus on this race and anything I sign up for needs to fit into my marathon training or be a race that I can just run for fun and not have to worry about my time.
Not going to happen in 2014
March 22, Run for the Ridge 5k – I was hoping to do this race to see if I can make it back to the medal stand, but I can’t afford to try to focus on the speed necessary for hitting a PR in a 5k while I’m training for my first marathon.
After May, I’m not sure what I’ll plan for the second half of 2014, other than I will definitely be running The Bear again in July and the Turkey Trot in November. I will continue to update the 2014 races list on the sidebar as I decide / register for new events.
What other races should I look at for 2014? What are your goal races?