Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Here we go again

Saturday forecast for Sanford, NC - partly cloudy with a high of 47, low of 23. So, at 10 am when my next 5k starts? Probably not much warmer than the last race. BUT, at least I know what to expect, what to wear, etc. More importantly, this will not be my FIRST race. It's my second, and my husband is joining me this time! My mom and dad are running again as well, and my mom has promised to actually run the entire distance - woo hoo! So, the forecast may be frigid, but the outlook is sunny.

And I do need some sunshine to keep me motivated. All of the snow we've had recently, and the postponement of the much anticipated mother/daughter half-marathon have not been the most energizing of forces. I'm up to 10 miles on my weekly long runs, but lately it's been more of a trudge than a joy.

I am pretty bummed that my much-labored-over training schedule now has me ready for the 13.1 way way way ahead of the new race. I am still thinking that I may just count the half in May as a part of training for a real marathon in the Summer. Problem is, where in the southeast will it not be hot as hell? I searched online and there literally are no marathons in NC or any surrounding states between June and September.

Except for one in Boone, in July, which I find pretty tempting. Yes, Boone is in the mountains (not even hills, but freaking mountains), but the race is called the Flatlanders Marathon, so it at least sounds doable.
However, as my husband so helpfully pointed out, the elevation difference (thinner air) may not be a good thing for a first-timer. I need to do some research on that. To be continued......

Oh, and by the way, I learned my lesson from the Tobacco Road 'race full' experience. I have now pre-registered and paid for two 10ks (one in March, one in April) and the new half-marathon in May. Done and done.

2 comments:

  1. Hi, I'm the "race director" for Flatlanders. I was googling "Flatlanders Marathon" just to see how popular we're getting, and I stumbled across your post.

    We hope you do come out for this race. The elevation stays at about 3,000 feet for the whole race, and nobody has mentioned anything about the altitude yet (people from Charlotte and Statesville). It's a free marathon, and if the altitude does get to you, we don't do DNFs. We just put you down for how many miles you ran.

    Happy training!

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  2. I couldn't wait until July, so I signed up for the one you are holding on 5/22. Who knows, maybe I'll be ready to turn around and do another in July, but I better just get one under my belt first!

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