I've never strategically planned out my race calendar with a rhyme or reason but looking back, there are definitely some trends I've followed and after a few years, I know what I want to do and what I don't.
Lets start at the beginning of the year.
(When I pick races I'm not going for quantity. In fact, I usually only like to do one race a month)
In the past, I've always run the Princess races at Disney (in February) or the Marathon (in January), or sometimes both. Although I love these races, It's just not a great time of year.
Training for an early January race isn't that bad because it's still not that cold leading up to race day but the fact that the race is the weekend following the end of Christmas break makes me feel rushed. It's like fast forwarding one exciting time to get to another. Moments are special and I like to savor them!
As much as I love the Princess races at Disney, I know they would require me to train when the weather is the coldest and I'm not a fan of cold weather running. I hadn't had to worry about that too much in the past because every Princess half marathon I've run, I've been injured (so there's that)! However, I do feel I need a redemption run so I do hope to complete it again sometime. Or perhaps I'll just go for a smaller distance so I don't have to train as much...lol
March
Not in a million years did I ever think I would run a half marathon in NYC in March. I know how windy it gets and I also know the chance for ideal running weather(for me) is not great. BUT, I could not be more happy to have the chance to run it this year and what makes it better is that the weather here has been mild this winter so that made training go well. I know scheduling a long distance race in March is quite a gamble so I won't be doing it again. In fact, I think I already have my first race of next year planned out already and it is only a 10K in March (that should be much more manageable to train for over the winter).
April
For the past several Aprils I've had mid-distance races (mini race-cations) planned and its worked out pretty well. There are a lot of races that pop up during this time of year so I think I'll be able to keep this trend going. April races seem to be the ones I look forward to the most and this year is no exception as I have a super fun one planned!
May-August
Because of how warm it gets, this time of year seems to be focused more on 5K races (with the exception of one year doing an 8K, and 10K). I would certainly be open to running races of other distances over the summer (since I love running in the summer) but anything more than a 5K can be hard to find.
September
There's a local race I do with my family each year. I'll probably continue this trend.
October-December
The race possibilities during this time are endless. This time of year I don't mind running a longer distance race because I know the weather during training will be almost perfect. Although I don't have anything set on the race calendar for this fall yet, I've seen a few that have caught my eye. This time of year is perfect for another race-cation. -M
PS. If you are looking for a race to fill your calendar this year and you want to add the Utah Valley Marathon (or Half or 10K) you can use our code faf15 for a 15% discount off registration. (sorry our free registrations have already been given away)
I'm sure you've seen a ton of bloggers talking about this race lately. Apparently all the cool kids will be running it on June 10th.
Here's why:
- The Utah Valley Marathon was named a TOP 10 race in America by Runner’s World Magazine in 2014
- They are giving out a nice race jacket instead of a shirt in 2017 due to this being our 10 year anniversary
- They have a super fast downhill course, BQ
- They have very large race medals
We will be linking up with the gals from TOTR.