Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Race Schedule Revisited

Last post, I mentioned that I finally had a tentative race schedule, but then didn't post it. Sorry, I wasn't trying to be vague, I just am still iffy on a couple of conflicts in the fall. The only "for sure" race is Old Dominion Memorial 100 in May. I really wanted to do something earlier in the spring, but I couldn't find a 100 that would work. So, I have to wait until May. Getting to races from El Paso is kind of complicated - it is a 12 hour drive to San Diego and a 12 hour drive to Dallas, just to give you a perspective of how isolated we are. Travelling to the Midwest, Northeast, East, or Northwest is an all day journey by plane. This usally means that we have to leave on Thursday for a Saturday race because more often than not we end up delayed in Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago or Denver (El Paso has very few direct flights to anywhere). At Umstead last year, my husband had to wait until Friday to travel to North Carolina and ended up stuck in the Dallas airport for 12 hours before finally arriving in NC at 3 am. He only slept for one hour before having to get up with me to go to the race. He then stayed up again through the night to crew for me (including pacing me for 25 miles in the middle of the night).

In the fall, there are many more options that are relatively close, so I'm just trying to see which one fits the best (Ultracentric, Javelina, ATY). I've been dying to try Javelina and ATY, so I hope one of them works out. The problem with running most of my 100s on asphalt, is that it takes a little more time to recover. If I do Javelina (instead of Ultracentric) I might be able to do ATY too because Javelina is on dirt and should be less stressful on the body. That would be cool! Anyone out there thinking about Javelina? I thought about doing FANS again because it is such a well-run race (great people, great support) but it was really hard to get to from El Paso, so I think I'm going to skip it this year. Maybe I can convince Julie to head south this year!

On the running front, I got in 20 on Sunday and 10 yesterday. I am back in the gym and doing some pilates, but I'm really trying to take it easy. I'm just so excited to be training again that I get a little spastic about it! I slept in today because I realized I didn't take a day off last week. It felt great (8:10 am!), and since it is the last day of winter vacation, it was the last day for the boys to sleep in, too. Tomorrow, I hope to get in 20 because we then travel to Florida where my running schedule is a little iffy. Other than the easy marathon, I don't know how much running I will be able to do. Okay, off to mail in my OD Memorial 100 application! Yeah!

4 comments:

Theresa said...

Last year about this time, I flew to El Paso and then drove just north of Las Cruces for the Ghostown 38.5. Have you heard of the race? It was very remote, and challenging- a good test for an early race. My airfare was cheap! If you ever want to run in Idaho you have a place to stay :) as long as you don't mind wild kids and dogs. We have an unofficial 52 miler in early June (doesn't seem to line up with your schedule this year) also, I REALLY want to do a camping/running girls weekend in the Sawtooth mountains. The trails are awesome and it is just beautiful. I was thinking mid- July to keep everyone going for those later summer races. Last year a group of us ran 40-50 miles and saw 8 different high mountain lakes.

Carilyn said...

Ooooh! I want to run in the Sawtooth mountains! Definitely keep me posted - it sounds like a blast! I have looked at the Ghostown 38.5 and it seems like a fun race, but I have a conflict that weekend. Mark Dorion is putting on a trail 50 miler/50k here February 10th as a prep race for Zane Grey, so I might try that. The trails here are pretty rocky (like ZG), so I'd have to get some trail training in beforehand so that I don't kill myself :)

Thanks for the great ideas!

Bob - BlogMYruns.com said...

Your doing the OD Memorial 100 huh, sweeeet Carilyn!!

That will be my first 100 so u can see me freak out during pre-race day and freak out more on the course--lol Look forward to meeting you.

I did hear it is a great small race, a lot of asphalt but hey thats all I run on here in FL ...I have to make sure I go in strong so I recover fast (2 weeks max) cause my BIG Crazy race is the following one, Grand Tetons in end of Aug. Last year 50 miles in that Altitude was a killer so 100 is going to be a Killer Plus--lol

Have fun in Disney & take lots of pics!

Olga said...

Be good to Bobby at OD100, he is a freak of nature before the race:) And when you arrange plans with Theresa to come over, let me know - we can surely have girl's reunion!