Planning Your Race Schedule

I think it is safe to say that we all know I am a list maker and planner. If you stir in the fact that I am a social butterfly, you have a recipe for race planning disaster. In fact, I already have all my A races lined up for 2016. Any takers for 2017?

Seriously though, in order to avoid another injury this year, it is important for me to be cautious and mindful of the amount of races I do and the ones that are truly a race for me. It is easy to get caught up in the feeling that you have to race, especially if everyone else is doing it, but one thing I have learned this year is that holding a sign or pacing a friend can be just as fun as The way that I do this is to divide my races up into categories – A, B and C.

My A races are the ones that I am going to race with my entire heart and leave everything behind. These are the races that I plan carefully for months and center my season’s builds and tapers around. I try to only have 2 -3 of these races a year. This forces me to think carefully about what races I want to pour my energy into.

My B races are the ones that will be a hard effort, but I will be working at 70-80% of my maximum. These will work at tempo training and guidelines to see where I am at as a work toward my goals.

My C races and runs are just for fun. I will be walk/running them if I am recovering from a race, pacing a friend or just going at whatever pace feels comfortable. They will be easy training runs with a social aspect thrown in.

So what are some of the races I am planning on doing this year? This is not an exhausted list because I am adding some fun events here and there and may be omitting some of my C races if I am not recovered enough to participate, but here are my plans:

A Races:

APRIL – The Boston Marathon, April 20 – I will be focusing all of my training efforts on this race until May. I will be racing this with the Janji Corps Team.

AUGUST – Transrockies 120 Miler – Colorado Rockies – This is a 6 day stage race with some of my endurance athlete friends from Michigan.

OCTOBER – Wilderness Traverse – Muskoka, ON. This is a 150 KM 24 hour adventure race with mountain biking, trail running and canoeing. I will be doing this with Team Ripkin. 

B Races: 

The 5 Peaks race series! I am going to have 4 of them as my B races and I am looking forward to spending another summer on the trails. I would love for you to join me! I am offering a discount code for the races for $5 off the entry fee. Just enter JESSICA at the checkout.

C Races:

5 Peaks! I will be doing 2 of the races shortly after Boston and Transrockies so if I am not volunteering, I will be walk/running the trails and getting my legs back.

Cayuga 50 Miler – May 31 – It is my birthday! I am headed to New York with some friends and will pace a few of them on the race. This will serve in establishing base mileage.

Laurel Highlands Ultra 70.5 miler– June 13 – I am pacing one of my friends for a Western State qualifier. She is my team mate for Transrockies so it will serve as a training run.

Laura Secord 25 KM trail race – July 4 – A nice easy training run for Transrockies and Wilderness Traverse.

What is on your race calendar for 2015? Want to add a challenge to your race calendar? I am doing a Facebook only contest right now for a free entry to a Spartan race, an obstacle course race that will test your limits. Just give Laces and Lattes a like and leave a comment telling me your favourite obstacle. I’ll announce a winner next Wednesday. If you can’t wait till then, you can receive 10% off any Spartan race with the code SPARTANBLOGGER.