Race Suspense: Fall 2019 Edition
Well, I wouldn’t be me without some race suspense. Here’s a look at what races are on my radar and some thoughts.
Just as a reminder, here’s my currently registered race schedule:
- November 3rd: NYC Marathon
- February 21st: Princess 5K
- February 23rd: Princess Half Marathon
Here are some races (real and virtual) that I’m considering adding to the schedule:
New Balance 5th Ave Mile -
https://www.nyrr.org/races/newbalance5thavenuemile
As the name would seem to indicate, this is a mile race that goes down 5th Avenue. I've thought about doing this a few times before, but it never really fit into my schedule. This year it would be a little easier to fit it into my schedule, so I’m thinking about it.
PROS:
- If not now, when? This race has been on my radar for a while, and timing-wise, this may actually be the best year for it to fit into my schedule.
- I’m already training for it - I’ve been doing increasingly longer 1 mile pace segments in my runs once a week. This race has been the plan all along, I just haven’t managed to bring myself to register for it.
- I very rarely go “all out” in races, just because that’s not why I run. But this is a race where I would want to do that, and it’d be interesting to see a) if I am capable of going all out, and b) what I could do in that situation.
CONS:
- The giveaway is shorts. I’m pretty sure the last time I wore shorts was when I was 12. So definitely not feeling the giveaway.
- If I do a 9-week marathon plan (more on that below), this would be the first week of the plan, and I’m not sure that doing an “A” goal race in the first week of a training plan is exactly ideal.
- So … historically our last baseball game has been labor day weekend (although we did go in early October once … so cold), but if any of our minor league teams make it into the playoffs, this could potentially be a baseball Sunday.
Poland Spring Marathon Kickoff 5M -
https://www.nyrr.org/races/polandspringmarathonkickoff5m
This 5 mile race is in Central Park and ends at the marathon finish line. It’s kinda the kickoff to marathon week in NYC.
PROS:
- Good way to start off marathon week
- Super convenient - starts and ends on the west side, which means I only need to get south, not crosstown.
CON:
- It’s a 5 mile race in Central Park. Who cares?
This is close to selling out, so I should probably decide soon.
NYCRUNS New York City Turkey Trot -
https://nycruns.com/races/?race=nycruns-new-york-city-turkey-trot
This is a new 5K from NYCRUNS on Thanksgiving morning (when in past years I have done the Prospect Park Turkey Trot, but I was fine skipping that last year and would probably have skipped it this year too). It starts just south of the Intrepid (about 3 miles from me) and runs along the bike/running path by the water down to Chelsea Piers and back.
PROS:
- Super convenient
- Could make it the middle part of a 15K training run (5Kish there, 5K race, 5Kish back home)
CONS:
- I wasn’t in love with the runner support at the last NYCRUNS race I did. This one is divided into two waves, so I’m guessing it won’t just be “lump everyone who runs slower than a 12 min mile together,” but I’m still not sure it’ll be slower runner friendly.
- I run this path all the time (further north mostly these days, but once I get back to marathon training I’ll be going that far south again), so it’s nothing special.
NYRR Virtual World Championship 5K - https://www.nyrr.org/races/nyrrvirtualworldchampionship5k
TCS New York City Marathon - Virtual 5K - https://www.nyrr.org/races/tcsnewyorkcitymarathonvirtual5k
NYRR Virtual Turkey Trot 5K - https://www.nyrr.org/races/nyrrvirtualturkeytrot5k
Year-End 5K PR Series
NYRR announced their last 4 virtual races for the year, and these are the three 5Ks. But … added bonus, if you do all three 5Ks (free) + sign up for the Year-End 5K PR Series ($25), you get a medal. I will most likely do the 5Ks (virtual race addiction), but I’m debating adding the PR series
PROS:
- I’m doing the 5Ks anyway, might as well get the medal
- Shiny things are fun
CON:
- I’m not a big “pay for virtual race medals” person
NYRR Halfway There Virtual 13.1 - https://www.nyrr.org/races/nyrrvirtualhalfwaythere131m
This is yet another free virtual race, this one a 13.1 in September/early October.
PROS:
- According to the website, if I show my completion badge at the marathon expo, I get a present.
- It’s free.
CONS:
- I have no idea if I will be planning t run 13.1 miles at that point in time, since I’ll likely still be in the early stages of marathon training.
Rangerstown
Rangerstown 5K is a question mark. The last two years, the Rangers have been off the Sunday after the marathon, and that’s when the race has been. This year they’re playing that day (home game). I don’t know if that’s going to affect the scheduling. If it’s any Sunday other than marathon Sunday, I’ll do it. If it’s a Saturday or if it’s marathon Sunday, I’m out (although honestly I think I’d rather do Rangerstown than the marathon … but you try explaining that to my father).
Bonus … Marathon Training Plan:
Last marathon I did a 16-week training plan, and that was like 7-8 weeks too long for me. So I was thinking that for this marathon, I would do a 8-9 week plan. An 8 week plan starts 9/9, and a 9 week plan starts 9/2.
This plan is going to be messy because of how the holidays fall out. Also, I won’t have Sundays available at all before the plan starts, so I’ll basically be starting from a long run of 6ish miles, since that’s the max I do mid-week.
I am planning to do a mid-week ramp up plan for 4 weeks just to increase my weekly mileage, but I’m still probably not going to be running more than 5-6 miles at once, I just may be doing it more often. I dunno. We’ll see how much time I have for running during the week. I’d like to get up to 18-20 miles mid-week at least once, but we’ll see if I can find the time for that.
tl;dr - this marathon timing sucks
(Coach
@DopeyBadger, you’ll be getting an email about all of this soonish)
... And that is all of my race suspense and marathon training thoughts. Sorry this isn't more exciting, but it's Sunday night and I had a long day and it's gonna be a busy week and I gotta figure out my schedule for tomorrow.
