As I sit here at work, bored silly, as there is nothing to do but wait for work to come in as we have got almost two feet of snow. This something that people here in Tulsa have a hard time dealing with. Having grown up in Illinois and being used to dealing with this every year, I really don't mind the snow. Some of the things you learn are to drive slower, pay attention, and keep focused. The Tulsa way is to drive too fast, hit every Quik Trip, and leave your vehicle in the road for others to drive around. But this snow is just what I needed to put together most of my race schedule.
I have never sat down and tried to compose a race schedule before and focus in on key races. I have always been a person who trains all the time and just jumps into whatever sounds good at the moment. My first attempt at this was not pleasant as I wrote down so many races that I wanted to do, that it just frustrated me even more that I could not do them all. I know I need to have a plan and commit to some goals and races, but I have never really tried it. I feel like I am going to miss something. Maybe I need a coach to keep me focused? Who knows.
Any way, this is what I have come up with for most of the upcoming year, but not all of it. It is very aggressive and may still not be very realistic and I may have to back off of it. With the addition of being on the cycling team, this has added another whole new dimension to what races I can do. The good thing about cycling races is that you recover a lot quicker from those than Ultras. So here goes:
2/12 - Sweetheart 5K run. This is a goal race to run sub 19. If I don't achieve this, I may add some more 5K's, plus they are offering a 20K after the 5K. Double up time.
2/26 - Post Oak trail run. This is a real tentative deal, but I may run the 25K because of the next weekend plans. I am really struggling with signing up for this one.
3/4 -6 - 360 Sports Cycling camp. Weekend camp with the team for training.
3/12 - St. Patrick's Day 5K. Great race that ushers in the race season in Tulsa.
3/12 - 13 - Salty Cow cycling race in Mannford, OK. The Saturday race is the same day as the 5K, but I think the race is in the afternoon and I could do both. I know the race team will do it.
3/26 - Northwest Arkansas Spring Classic cycling race. Heard it is a great road race.
4/2 - Lake McMurtry trail run. Having done this race 5 times, I will probably do the 25K. Great race by the TATURS.
4/17 - Spring Fever Triathlon. Local sprint race that I may or may not do. Still on the fence about this one.
5/1 - OKC Marathon. I have ran this race 3 times and have never had a really good race. PR of 3:23 on this course. There a lot of special things about this race that keeps drawing me back.
5/22 - Sand Spring Crit cycling race.
6/10 - 12 -Tulsa Tough. Part of the USA Cycling NRC tour events and is a local great race.
6/15 - Speedwheel. Part of the Freewheel across Oklahoma event.
6/20 - Sapulpa Crit cycling race.
7/1 - TATUR Midnight Madness 50 miler. A big maybe. I might do the Leadville Marathon again.
7/24 - Chris Brown Duathlon. This depends on the previous events.
8/14 - 360 Sports Crit race in Owasso. This is a team sponsored event and I will be there.
The rest of the year is undecided, but I may do the Pumpkin Holler race. Also on that list would be the Tulsa Run, Route 66 Marathon, Redman Ironman triathlon, and Branson Ironman 70.3.
As I said before, this is very aggressive and I may have to scale back. It will be interesting to see how much I can adhere to it, let alone, do well at all of this. With my new day shift job, I will be able to run in the mornings and cycle in the evenings. Maybe even throw a swim in every once in awhile. Time will tell how I do, but for now, the sub 19 5K is next on the list.
