Happy Monday friends! I hope you had a great weekend. We spent it in a cabin the mountains (Big Bear, about a 3 hour drive from San Diego) with three other couples and their babies. It was a really fun mini getaway and the weekend went even better than expected, minus the fact that these Southern California natives got caught in the snow driving up and I saw my life flash before my eyes as we attempted to drive in a storm for the first time. We ended up making it within a 1/2 mile of the cabin before our car got stuck on a icy hill and had to have our friends come rescue us. That was after frantically purchasing chains, even more frantically installing them (after watching a YouTube video on our iPhones while sitting in a turn-out) and watching as other cars fishtailed across the winding mountain road and several others got stuck in the snow. It was an exciting Friday afternoon.
In running related news, if you follow me on social media you may have seen that I got accepted into the New York Marathon!!! This was my first time entering the lottery and I had read somewhere that only 10% of people got in so I was pretty shocked when I got in. Turns out this year about 24% of people were accepted so my odds were better than I imagined. Either way, I feel pretty lucky to have been selected and I am really excited for the race! I wasn’t sure if a full marathon would be in the cards for me this year but this made up my mind.
I’m really looking forward to running a marathon for something other than chasing a BQ. For the past three years I’ve been choosing my marathons solely based on how fast I think the course is. Now I finally get to run a bucket list race and I couldn’t be more thrilled! I’m still not sure how the weekend will go for me, but at this point it’s looking more and more like I’ll be flying solo to New York and leaving Mike and Siena behind.
Getting into New York (which happens on November 6th) means that I have to start marathon training in July. And if you have been following my spring and summer race schedule, you know that I have a half marathon in April, June and July. So that means that I’ll be pretty much training for races from now until November. While I am excited about getting back into it, I also know that going back to work full time and managing all that training is going to be tough at times. Plus, I really love yoga and strength training too so I don’t want to completely burn out on running by the time New York rolls around.
The plan I have floating around in my mind is to continue training for La Jolla Half as I have, with Rock n’ Roll San Diego being my goal half marathon this year (remember one of my 2016 goals is to finish a half marathon feeling proud of my training and effort). La Jolla is coming up real quick and I’m basically using it as base building for RnR SD. I got in my first speed workout last week, which was a pretty sad display of fitness, but I have to start somewhere.
After RnR SD I have only 6 weeks until the San Diego Craft Classic half marathon, and I plan to take a week off of running completely after the race, and then we’re heading to Hawaii for a family vacation. After that, I’d like to do the 21 Day Fix (and continue running of course, but probably just 3 days a week) and host a challenge group and then run the Craft Classic “for fun.” We’re doing a Oiselle Team meet up at the race and Asia is running it and it’ll be fun to run together again. I want to do 21 Day Fix to get my strength up before marathon training and also because I love a challenge and want to do something other than running to avoid burn out (I also plan to host a challenge group and would love for any of you to join me!). I’m not the type of runner who can run year round without getting bored of it so I think this will be a great way to take a refresher before marathon training really ramps up. I’ll still have the base I’ll have built from the spring half marathon training to go from.
The end of summer and early fall will be dedicated to marathon training. I don’t know which book or website I’ll use to craft my plan, but I do know that I won’t be hiring a coach. The reason I won’t be using a coach is mostly budget related, but also because I’ve had success coaching myself in the past and as of now I don’t plan to try to PR or BQ at New York (basically one in the same at this point since my PR is 26 seconds off a BQ). Things definitely could change and if my training is telling me that I can run a PR, I’ll go for it. But if it’s not, I’m definitely not going to push it. I’ve put enough pressure on myself to run fast marathons and I really want to enjoy this one. If I’m feeling good about where I’m at, I may try for a BQ in early 2017 but time will tell!
So there we go – I can’t believe 2016 is basically mapped out already. How I’ll make it all work with an infant is TBD but I know that since training is important to me, I’ll make time for it. Luckily I already am used to 5:30 AM workouts since that is when I’ll probably be doing the majority of my training.
How far out do you plan your race schedule? Have you ever run the New York Marathon?
First things first – LOVE the new blog look! Gorgeous!
I am so bummed I’m not running NYC because I feel like everyone got in this year! It would be such a fun year to run it. I’ll happily join you on some summer runs. 🙂
Thanks! Mike designed it! I’m bummed you’re not doing NYC either- I need a travel buddy. Some company on runs will have to do!
I lived in Los Angeles for several years after college and your story of driving to Mammoth/Big Bear and having to buy and then put chains on your tires was my exact memory from when I drove there for the first time with some friends and family…only we didn’t have YouTube!!
Congrats on NYC! I ran it for the first time last year and it was amazing. Just take training one day at a time and everything will work out as it should.
Happy running!
Haha I figured people end up in the same situation as us every time it snows but it didn’t make it any less scary!!
Thanks for the encouragement and I’m glad you enjoyed NYC last year!
How exciting you were accepted into this year’s NYC Marathon! That will be a great race to get back into marathoning and I think your approach is perfect. Your weekend drive in the storm sounds terrifying! Glad you made it to the cabin and back home safe.
That picture of Sienna in the snow is sooooo cute!!!!!
Jealous you got into NYC. I’ve done it and it is amazing!! So much fun!!! I know lots of people that go in too. Sounds like you have a good race season to look forward too. I bet you will be surprised at how well you do!!! 🙂
Thanks! It seems like a lot of people got in this year! i”m really looking forward to it.
I’m seriously so excited that you got picked for the NYC Marathon. As I mentioned on FB, it was meant to be. It will be interesting to see how you approach the marathon as “marathon training” rolls around this summer. I like your mindset already.
How did Siena like the snow?! I can’t believe you guys got caught in a blizzard and had to put on chains. Living in Oregon, I am used to snow storms and driving over mountain passes, but I couldn’t image doing it for the first time – when you have a baby in the car!! Glad you made it safely and enjoyed your trip!
I’m excited about NYC too! It seems like fate for sure!
Siena didn’t seem to think too much of the snow either way. I guess since her hands were totally covered and she was wearing the giant suit she probably barely noticed it. ha.