Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Race-less LB

If you followed this blog last year, you came across them. They weren't frequent in that they didn't appear once a week or anything, but they were fairly common. Much more common than this year.

Race recaps have indeed been in short supply in 2011 for the simple fact that I have not run many races this year.

Let me see, my races this year...

Surf City Marathon and Fountain Valley 5K in February, Diamond Valley Lake Marathon in April, Fontana Days Half Marathon and Camp Pendleton Mud Run in June and.... oh yeah, that's it.

Sad.

Last year at this time I'd done Surf City Marathon, ARMC 5K, Lefty's 5K, Run Through Redlands Half Marathon, Run For Rescue 10K, SBSD Mud Run, Camp Pendleton Mud Run and the San Francisco Marathon.

That's eight races at this point last year - twice as many as last year - and still I had two left at the end of the year.

The way my year has worked out, it's probably for the best that I haven't had more races as I was woefully undertrained throughout the summer. But now that I'm getting back into the swing of things, I feel those juices flowing, the desire to run races is once again present. I'm kicking butt and I want to test myself.

But alas, I won't get the chance to test myself much this year.

When I became pace leader, my initial thought was to make sure I did well in that job. Being pace leader became my focus and because it has been my focus, I have not looked at doing too many races. Logistically it would be difficult. Most races are run on Sundays so running a race would mean missing a day with the Lopers. Saturday races are out of the question until after Thanksgiving because of my girls' respective soccer teams and my own soccer duties. And there's not many Saturday races out there to begin with.

Now, there is hope. There are four races on the Loper calendar. There is of course the biggie, the LA Marathon in March, and there's the Surf City Half Marathon in February. I've done the full each of the last two years and I'll probably wind up running the half this year. There is also the Loper Classic but I won't be able to run that as I'll be volunteering that day for that race.

The next race I could run would be Mission Inn. I ran the half marathon last year and the 10K each of the last two years before that. I'm undecided on that one, whether to run the half or the 10K. I wasn't too crazy about the half marathon course but I feel like I need the challenge once more of running a half marathon.

That race is on Nov. 13 so it is still quite a ways away.

I don't know if I can last that long. I might have to look for some sort of race that fits my schedule in order to get the urge to destroy a race out of my system.

Then again, all this pent-up frustration could make for a strong performance at Mission Inn.

Either way, I want to just put on a bib and put my game face on once more.

6 comments:

The Jesse said...

i LOVE this: "Either way, I want to just put on a bib and put my game face on once more."

i love to race not just for the "racing" but because i enjoy being apart of the running community and supporting each other. i've got at least 6 more races planned for this year with 1 more possible race i might do which will bring me to 12 or 13 for the year, down from 17 last year.

Michael said...

Funny you write this. I've done a ton of races this year, but now with impending shoulder surgery I feel like I'm on the look out for any race I can get into over the next few weeks (as long as they are not triathlons). I was online today looking for a 5K or 10K...I feel like I just need to get them in while I can. Hope you get to race soon!

Amanda said...

This has been a very sparce year for me too. Sometimes I wonder if mine was just a newness factor, if aging as a runner makes you a bit more selective about what you do and don't want to race. Either way when you do get a race in, that good ole feeling comes right back. :)

Jill said...

I've run next to nothing, but that goes without saying *sigh*. Hoping to be out in Cali sometime in 2012...hopefully we can race together again! :)

Courtney said...

Even tho you haven't ran as many races as last year you still have had goals for yourself and that's great!! Keep on running!! I know what you mean about soccer duties for your kids!! I coach all three of my kids and the games start this weekend so I don't know how I am going to manage getting in my long runs on the weekends. I guess just one saturday at a time!!

Coy Martinez said...

I know how you feel. When the urge comes you just wanna race, period. This is sort of when I find myself searching for trail half marathons. I live in KY and there's little here to run in. Seriously, almost nothing. The LA Marathon sounds super cool!