2014 - Racing Review Thus Far

I can't believe it's June already.

It seems like just last week my husband was traveling for business and we had a massive snow storm.  THAT was a fun time... (also known as, "The One Where I Learned How to Snow Blow For the First Time, Cellphone Aided Edition".)

I guess, technically, it kind of was still winter a few weeks ago.  For those of you who don't live in Minnesota, or for those of you that DO live in Minnesota and are having stress induced memory blocks, sad fact: we had an extremely late ice out again this year, with lots of late season snow to boot.

Ugh. 

Why do I live in Minnesota again?

Moving on.

Being that we're half way through the year, I thought I would recap my races thus far and talk about my plans for the future.  Here goes!


January & February

For these months, nothing, thank god.  Racing in -50 weather would not be a good time.


March

I actually ran my earliest race ever in a year, racing the first weekend in March rather than waiting for St. Patty's day.  I also made my first (failed due to mid race cancellation) marathon attempt. I guess I can accept the failure given I got a ride home from the cops, with a drunk Wolverine in the front seat.

Also, I ran Get Lucky.  *Choke, cough, cough*  At least it was with a good group of friends.

April

In celebration of my birthday, I drug my sister down to Chicago for their semi-official season opener race, the Shamrock Shuffle.  I got an ugly race shirt, and wore an awesome costume.

May

I re-ran the Lake Minnetonka Half as a relay and broke the "Cool Runner's Creed" by wearing my race shirt on race day.  Whatever, it matched my socks.

I also volunteered as a Course Aid at the Chaska 5K/10K.  This is when my true fabulousness was finally acknowledged, since I was taken for someone of real celebrity.  AND, everyone finally admitted I was kind of a big deal.

June

I nearly peed myself several times over at the Lola's Lake Waconia Half Marathon, running as relay team "Rainbows & Sunshine".  Disappointingly, despite the rain, I did not turn into a mermaid like the race shirt suggested I would.  To make myself feel better about that, I bought a new pair of shoes.

As For Future Races...

At this point, I'm kind of flying by the seat of my pants and registering whenever I feel like doing a race rather than booking up my schedule for months/a year in advance.  I decided awhile ago that for 2014 I wasn't going to over-tax myself with races, which I have to admit has resulted in a mixed bag.  I do miss looking forward to races and having a reason to train more, but it's also nice to have more freedom in my schedule, not to mention being able to pocket a little extra cash. 

Regardless of my pseudo "non-scheduled race" calendar, being that I've already been involved in 6 races this year, I'm hoping to at least race 6-9 more events before I call it quits for the winter.  Why?  If you recall, I ran 15 races last year.  And I'm competitive with myself.  So, I'm trying to stay as close to 15 as possible for 2014 as well.  It's totally an arbitrary goal that means pretty much nothing to anyone except myself.  But, I don't think getting in 9 more races is unrealistic given my jump start to racing in 2014, and the fact that I have the following 5 races for sure on the schedule:

June - TC Pride 5K
July - Siren Freedom Five
August - Minneapolis Duathalon, Webster Education Foundation 5K, Lake Run 5K Shell Lake (this one is pending registration - the organizers are typically really late in releasing registration forms)

Also, I'm a total caver to peer pressure when it comes to racing with friends, so I'm sure I'll be suckered into a few additional races in the near future. 

Which brings me to late fall... come on folks... here's your chance to have huge influence.

September - Hmmm... empty month, tempting... suggestions???
October - Mankato Half Marathon???

And as for winter, well...

November/December - Leaving this open for now.  I don't want to plan too far in advance with Minnesota winters the way they are.

Floor's open.  Entice me to run your race below.