I can't seem to pick a fall marathon. I really don't want to wait too long after the Circle the Bay 30K to run a full marathon. Ideally, I'd like to run Circle the Bay and then begin my taper 1-3 weeks afterwards.
DH isn't fond of driving a long distance or flying anywhere so that I can run. However, he did say that if we could get a sitter to stay home with the kiddos, he would do it. My mom would surely be interested. So... with that hope, I just need to pick a race.
There are are several full marathons in the Pacific Northwest in Aug and Sept. Both of the two in Aug are the week following the Circle the Bay so I've thrown them out as being too soon. That leaves 6 in Sept.
Pocatello Marathon in Idaho on Sept 1st (out - BarCon Weekend)
Skagit Flats Marathon north of Bellvue, WA on Sept 9th
Montana Marathon in Billings on Sept 16th
Two Bear Marathon in Whitefish, Montana on Sept 16th (not likely a PR course)
Maui ~ spendy to travel to especially just 2 weeks before our family vacation to Disneyland (I'd rather save this one for a true Hawaiian vacation for the family, perhaps '08 or '09)
Timberline Trail at Mt.Hood ~ not a PR course (I'd rather save it for a fun one in the future)
So, Skagit or Montana ?? Others ??
If I don't qualify during the fall marathon, my plan would then be to look to a winter (Sacramento, Phoenix, or ?) or spring marathon (Eugene or ?). Training in the winter here can be treacherous, as we've learned. :) Therefore, I'm more apt to want to train for Eugene again and thereby build up my mileage when the weather starts improving rather than train for Sacramento or Phoenix and build up mileage as the weather starts getting worse.
What are your thoughts?
Yea, running a marathon the week after an 18 miler might be a bit tough, unless you are a Maniac :-) I guess it just depends on how bad you want to run a marathon this year (and how bad you want to PR). The 18 miler sounds like a great "long distance" race. Maybe that should be your A race this year.
ReplyDeleteHi - Thanks for stopping by my blog. I'm new around here - are you trying to qualify for Boston? I don't know about any of the September marathons, but Cal International in Sacramento in December is probably the best BQ course around. It's a very well organized race, also.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your goal.
The Skagit Flats Marathon will be at (or close to) sea level so that should help your time. Also, by Sept 9th, it should be starting to cool off a bit in the Pacific Northwest.
ReplyDeleteThe Royal Victoria Marathon is October 7. You can BQ there. It's at sea level and I've heard it's a pretty easy course. It should also be cool (but not cold).
Good luck deciding!:)
ReplyDeleteHi Makita, I got your message and I want to post here in case I miss you by responding on my site.
ReplyDeleteYou can definitely tweak the weekly schedule as much as you need to within the given week, but make sure you follow this principal: take a day of rest (or cross training) or easy, easy recovery runs between 2 hard days. In other words, do NOT do two hard days in a row. You will eventually feel the wear and tear and maybe a full blown injury somewhere along the line.
I had to tweak the weekly schedule EVERY darned week because of childcare and my DH's work schedule, but I got in the 2 hard days, the long run, and the 2 easy days, and I never did 2 hard days back to back. I consider the long run a hard day too. Just be careful. I hope this makes sense to you. Feel free to ask me any questions and I'll do my best to help ya'!
Dont pick something too close to the 30K. You'll need some recovery after that.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure about the races you mention. Not my neck of the woods! But look for something reasonably flat also.