My 2011 racing schedule

In the past few days I have started to think hard about what races I want to run in the New Year.  I threw around the idea of running the Shamrock Marathon in March but after thinking about it long and hard I don't have the confidence that I will have the time to get my conditioning to where I want it and hit the goals I am thinking are attainable for me.  Instead I'm going to do a spring Half Marathon, which I did last year and really enjoyed, and a fall Half, then possibly the Marine Corps Marathon.  Below are the races I'm thinking I want to run, all but 1 is organized by Pacers Running store which always puts on a pretty high quality race.  Maybe I'll sneak a 5k in a few different places, but who knows.  I'm not very good at getting my self all excited about running a 5k or making it part of my training routine, at the same time if I don't have a big race on my calendar then I am less likely to keep my training up.

April 10 - G.W. Parkway Classic - Tentative

May 15 - Pacers Running Festival Half Marathon.

October 2 - Wilson Bridge Half Marathon

October 30 - Marine Corps Marathon - Tentative

Marine Corps Marathon Weekend Recap

Despite not running in the Marine Corps Marathon this weekend, my life was surrounded with the MCM festivities.  On Saturday I spent the day working at the expo for Injinji and GU which was a great experience and I'll probably make a new post about that in the days to come.  In short though, GU is a company I have supported since starting running, it's pretty much the only gel I've consistently used and have always preferred.  Injinji was a new company to me, they produce 5 finger socks and they're super comfortable and help prevent blisters, I'll likely begin using them for long runs and report back accordingly.

Sunday morning I went to the MCM to cheer on the runners, specifically one of my good friends Ryan.  I met him 3 years ago at mile 23 as we were making the turn in Crystal City, and have been great friends since.  In 2008 we finished the race together and in 2009 we started together, so in 2010 without me running I felt it was a good idea to cheer for him.  I caught him at 10.5, 15, 17.5, and 19.5, and he finished with a 4:40 time, not bad for taking a month off from training!

I think I have figured out my running calendar for 2011, I'll make a post about that in the next couple of days and start training hard to make the goal times!