Friday, December 27, 2019

2020 Race Plans

Just like last year, this is the list of my planned 2020 races. I'll update as I complete and register. Plus some of the dates may be off and need to be adjusted.



Completed
Jan 1 R - Peanut Butter Chip Chase 5k  - With the boys
Jan 25 R - Blizzard Blast Obstacle Course

Planned (if there is an R next to race name, I've already registered)


Jan/Feb R - Freeze Your Buns 5k Series - With my youngest
Feb R- Fudgicle Series
February R -Taji 100 Virtual -
Mar 14 R - LebRec Shamrock Shuffle 5k - NH GP
Mar 29 R Eastern States 20 Miler
Apr 5 R - Nashua Soup Kitchen 5k - NH GP With my youngest
Apr 20 R - Boston Marathon!!
Apr 26 R - Sleepy Hollow
May 3 - Pack Monadnock
May 9 R - Narrow River in RI with my best friend
May 17 - Gate City Half Marathon (May run full)
May 23 - Wachusett Mtn Race (USATF ATR)
Jun 7 - Cranmore Mtn Race
Jun 13 - Ascutney Mtn Race
Jan 14  - Flag Day 5k Amherst
Jun 20 R- Mt Washington Road Race
Jun 27 - Capital City 10k NHGP
Jun/Jul - Mine Falls Trail Series
July 25 - Track Outdoor Championships (USATF ATR)
Aug 9 - Santown 5 miler  NH GP
Sept 7- St Charles 5k (USATF ATR)
Sept 26 - Hogsback Half with my best friend
Oct 18 - Baystate
Oct 20 R   - New England Half Marathon - NH  GP (Won at GCS Awards Dinner)
Nov 8 - NE Cross Country Championships (USATF ATR)
Nov 22 - Great Gobbler Thanksgiving Race
Nov 24 - Novemberfest
Dec ? - Mill Cities Relay (Awaiting team placement with Gate City Striders)

Monday, December 23, 2019

2020 Training has begun

I registered for Eastern States as soon as registration opened. I love my low bib numbers, and this time I might get number 1, as it was a few minutes past midnight. 

Last weekend my son wrapped up his cross country season by running in the USATF Nationals in Wisconsin! I'm super proud of him and this was the first season. He ran a 7:50 pace, which is not his fastest, but the ground was not a nice running surface. He enjoyed running and has committed to joining me for many 5ks this year to prep for next season. If you are southern NH local and have kids that love to run, consider checking out Gate City PAL Striders in the fall. This is the first sport in which we never had to ask him twice to get ready for practice, never had to listen to him negotiate to skip 'just this one'. His entire team was supportive of each other, I never saw the connection with his baseball teammates that I saw with cross country teammates. 

Back to my upcoming season. I'm committed to Eastern States 20 Miler. I'll register Mt. Washington once I can with my Mountain Goat status. I started strength training with EnduraFit a few months ago as I want to be a stronger and faster runner. I didn't train running or otherwise in 2019, I just ran many races and for most of the mountains I came in the last 10 or DFL. I'd like to do better this year. NH Grand Prix has a conflict with Mt. Washington, so while I'll run most of those races, 2021 will have to be my Granite Runner year. I'm going to run a half and 10k with my best friend. I'm going to run another full marathon. I haven't picked one yet, but Providence is the most likely candidate as it lines up nicely Eastern States. I entered the NYC Marathon lotto. but I'm not optimistic, with the Brittany Runs A Marathon Movie out, I suspect they will have a record high number of entries this year. By the way, if you haven't seen that movie, find time this winter to do so.  

Green - miles completed; Yellow - Less than planned Miles; Pink - cross training; Red- skipped

Week One Training


Tuesday
Goal 3 miles
Actual: 3 miles, outside running laps around my building and garage in the snow. I should have worn my Yax but thankfully I did not slip.

Wednesday
Goal: 3 miles
Actual: 1.5 miles. Once again laps around my building and garage, but it was a comedy of errors to start. I left my gps garmin at the office, so I used my step tracker garmin, which is very generous with miles. I'm fairly certain I did not run a 9:45 pace. I cut the run early due to the need for a bathroom and never got back out, but the ground was worse than when it was snowing. I followed it up with an hour session with Chris(trainer). Considering I did clockwork planks and the alphabet on the bosu ball, I'm going to not be upset that I missed my mile mark. 

Thursday
Goal: 3 miles
Actual: 3 miles. Due to single digit temps and windchill, I opted out of Winter Warriors and headed to the Nashua Y instead. My son joined me to keep up his running. He didn't need to run all 3 miles, but I wanted him to do at least 1. I ran the entire 3 miles. I've never done that before. I've always taken a moment to walk. The last 3 laps, Jack joined me on the track again and when I told him what I was about to accomplish, he cheered me on while running along side me. Just the way I cheered him on when he was running. I used my gps watch on indoor mode, to count laps. 3 miles is 27 laps on that track. 

Friday
Body weight strength training and extended foam rolling.

Saturday
Goal: 6 miles
Actual: 6 miles on a treadmill.  Another first, ran for 56 mins at 12 min pace without a walk break. Ran until the treadmill shut off and needed to be restarted. Discovered after I was done that it would warm up  over the weekend to better running temps. Went to Star Wars after.

Sunday
Goal: Cross training
Actual: While sipping my morning coffee, I thought about the week and decided that I'd take Sunday as a rest day. I had body work strength on Monday planned.  This is my first week back to serious training and rest is important for success.