2012 Race Plans

The racing season are quickly approaching.  Which is both exciting and frightening.  I love racing but I have set bigger goals for myself this year and it is going to be a challenge.

Here is the schedule so far:

April 28, 2012      Illinois Half Marathon                    Champaign, IL
June 8-9, 2012     Ragnar Relay                                 Madison to Chicago
June 10, 2012      Capitol View Triathlon                   Madison, WI
July 15, 2012       70.3 Racine                                   Racine, WI
August 5, 2012    Camp Couragous Sprint Triathlon   Monticello, IA

Planning races was a bit of a challenge this year because I have approximately 1 million weddings to attend this summer.  Okay, that is a slight exaggeration, but there are seriously about 10 I will probably be attending.  I  have a very busy summer coming up that will include lots of weekend traveling.  I'm not sure how all this training on weekends when I am traveling will work out but I hope I can come up with a solution.  Most of my long workouts are on Saturday or Sunday so those are workouts I really don't want to skip.

I'm kicking the racing season off with my second half marathon at the Illinois Half Marathon.  Originally I wanted to go sub-2:00 on this race, but that seems a little ambition now.  Instead, I am just attempting to PR this race and shoot for 2:10.  I am running this with my friend Laura and she will probably kick my butt.  And that is okay with me.

My A race for the year is the  70.3 Racine-my very first half Ironman!  This will also be the most challenging but the one I am most looking forward to.

The  Capitol View Triathlon is mostly just a warm-up race for the half Ironman.  I really wanted to get in an Olympic distance before tackling the half Iron and this one seemed to fit the bill.  I also signed up to do a Ragnar Relay with my coworkers the two days before this triathlon.  That could make for an interesting race.  The relay is an overnight relay with a 12-person team where each runner has 3 legs to run with approximately 3 to 8 miles each time.  Let's just say it should be an interesting bonding time for all of us being crammed into a van for 24+ hours.  Doing the triathlon on Sunday will give me plenty of practice for racing on tired legs and a not well-rested body.

I am doing the Camp Couragous Sprint Triathlon again because I loved it so much last year.  I am just hoping to beat my time from last year.

I am tempted to sign up for another Olympic distance triathlon after the half Iron and possibly another half marathon.  But I don't want to sign up for too much after the half Iron and I am just going to wait to see how I feel.  I have a feeling I might need a break after that one.