Full Steam Ahead ...Sort of ...

As you saw in my last post, my race line up for the next 4 months is set. As most of you know, right now running is really an after thought since most days I have about 1 hour that I am awake, not at work, or not driving home from work.  With tax season ending in about 6 weeks, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Coming up with a training plan to go from now until the Baltimore Half with the 10k and the 10 miler along the way was a challenge. The biggest challenge is that my husband is running the 10k not the 10 miler but is doing the half. We run together but I know that I will be training for the 10 miler in June but he won't be. So after the 10-miler, I will be scaling back down so that we can start to train for the Half. I also have to keep in mind that I will be studying for the CPA which will be taking up another 20 hours a week roughly.

So my running since the two half's I did last year has just been running a 5-6 mile long run, occasionally a 3 mile mid-week run, and yoga on Thursday. Needless to say, no much but I just don't have the time. My first race I signed up for is a week after tax season ends ... I will not be trained but I am still excited for it and it will be fun. I am not worried too much abut my time but do have a goal.

As you can see - until April 17th, I am not really running much. And even at the "height" of training, I would say I run on the lower end of the spectrum and less than other people. My body tends to prefer it that way so I don't see the need to push it more at this point. I am never going to break and records and as long as I can get better compared to my self - I don't really care about others!

So after the Sole of the City 10K, I will be gearing up for the Baltimore 10-Miler.

Now after the Baltimore 10 Miler, the rest of the summer will be getting ready for Baltimore Half AND trying not to get hurt. I have been having random tweaks over the last few months, so I want to make sure that I don't risk not running it at all. My goal for this is to break 2 and right now my best Half time was 2:19. I know its lofty - but we will see!

The sad part is - I would have done it in excel just like that regardless of if I was posting it to the public.  I am a nerd ... I spent my only day off last week working on my spreadsheet. I even added an column for expected calorie burn. As of now,  Hot Yoga on Sundays is offered, so hopefully that will work out. I want to start doing Hot Yoga and hopefully some extra stretching will help keep my muscles from being less tight. 

How is everyone else doing? 

2012 Race Line Up

So far my running year is a year of all downtown Baltimore races ... Before the year started - I set a budget for entry fees for the two of us ($500). With the 3 events below (a total of 5 entry fees) we are more than half way through the budget. I will look for 1 or 2 more things to do either in November or December. I really want to do another holiday themed one so I can wear my funny costume.


April 21, 2012 - Sole of the City 10K

"April 21, 2012 will be a day for runners. It will be our city, our streets and, of course at the end of it all, our party! Join us for the inaugural Sole of the City 10K. We’ll run the streets of Baltimore and finish up at the newest Charm City Run location at McHenry Row. This is our 10th anniversary so we have the run covered. The after-run festivities will be sponsored by our good friends at The Greene Turtle. We can’t wait to see you!"


Premium: Black Under Armour Escape Lightweight Quarter Zip.

No course map has been posted yet. But it does finish at McHenry Row (Downtown Baltimore)

Goal:  60 minutes. Coming right out of tax season - I will not have trained for this and just will have been doing 1-2 runs a week throughout the winter just to maintain some sort of endurance from last fall. I will be running this with my husband as well.

June 16, 2012 - Baltimore 10-Miler

"This fifth running will feature the same scenic, challenging, yet fun course the starts and finishes at Druid Hill Lake Park near the Maryland Zoo. The course will travel along the North side of town to Lake Montebello and return to Druid Hill for the post race festivities that are SECOND TO NONE for this size race."

Premium: Born Fit 1/4 Zip Jacket with Pocket in the back

Goal: 1 hour and 35 minutes. A little worried about the heat for this - and I will probably not be as trained as I should be. My husband will not be running this with me - I have never ran a race alone. I don't know what to expect - when I run alone, I tend to let up sooner than I need too. 

October 13, 2012 - Baltimore Running Festival (Half)

As much as I hate the almost entire uphill course - this is by far my favorite race from a crowd and excitement statement.  See my reviews. Who doesn't love candy being handed out along the course! 

Premium: In years past - the shirt has been an Under Armour Catalyst short sleeve shirt. So far I have an orange one and a blue one. 

This years shirt is not out yet.

Goal: My goal for this race is Sub 2 hours. This is a lofty goal since my fastest half has been 2:19 but I think I can put more into training this year than last year. Last year I didn't start running until June and had only run about 1-2 times a week throughout my training.  It will be hard but it will be something to work towards. If I miss my goal like I did last year - I will probably enter another half just to try again. Last year at Baltimore I missed my 2:30 goal by 1 min and 41 sec - so I ran Annapolis Half and beat it by 11 minutes. 

What are you signing up for?

Oh and I did yoga today! Way to go for me for exercising 3 of the last 6 days!