2013 Plans

Thought I'd share some of my 2013 plans. The year promises to be equally as stressful as 2012 was, but in different ways since I'm only focused on my PhD work at this point in my training.

I'm pacing several races this spring:

• April 13, Rock The Parkway, 2:00 pacer
• April 20, Oz Marathon, 4:30 pacer
• April 21, Kansas Half Marathon, 2:00 pacer
• May 5, Lincoln Marathon, 4:00 pacer
• May 11, Running With The Cows, 2:00 pacer
• June 1, Hospital Hill, 2:05 pacer

All great races and I have no financial interest in any of them. If you're looking for a low-key fun event in the spring I'd suggest Running With The Cows. Lincoln is already sold out. Amazing. 10,000 spots went in 12 hours.

The most interesting race is going to be the Kansas Half the day after Olathe (Oz). That 2:00 pace is going to be a little painful.

I've got three ultras on the calendar this spring, but I'm only going to be able to run two of them. I'm signed up for both days of Brew to Brew as a solo, but because of a conference I need to attend I'm only going to be able to run on the last day. Both days are 44 miles. 

I'm also going back to Los Alamos for the Jemez Mountain 50-miler. You may (or hopefully not) remember the pathetic performance I put on there in 2009, dropping at mile 18. That was my "hey, I ran a 100-mile a few months ago, I really don't need to train" attitude. In case you're wondering just how screwed up I really am, this is my birthday present. I think it's quite a good present.

Finally, I'm signed up for Grandma's Marathon. This is my goal race...I want to Boston Qualify. But...here comes another wrinkle. My PI (the person who runs the lab I work in) wants me to attend a course at Cold Spring Harbor that overlaps with the race. Dammit. Well, I have to apply for the course, so there's always the chance I won't get in...but I do really want to go. So, I'll be searching for a fall race that would still qualify me to run Boston in 2014. According to this webpage, I need to qualify by early September, 2013.

I do have one race to look forward to in the fall, Heartland. I deferred my 2012 100-mile entry for 2013. 

There's also The Hawk, which I'm race directing again this year. That'll be September 14th and 15th at Clinton Lake State Park in Lawrence, KS. Good times were had by all last year.

Ah, one more thing. I'm stil leading the Wednesday Night Beginners Run for the Trail Nerds. Well, "leading" is a bit misleading. I think I make it about 75% of the time, with folks like Wael, Chris, and Brian making up for my slack. Whatever, it keeps me in shape and honest with my running.

So, that's it. The big question is: can I run a 3:05 marathon this summer?