09 October 2009

Opportunity Knocks

I have the chance to go to either the San Antonio Marathon or the Tuscson Marathon (or Vegas, Helen) at very little cost to me--flight, hotel, registration fees would be covered. I've earned all of those incentives through the fundraising I've done with the NF Endurance Team! This is very intriguing to me...I could still break 3 hours this year!

Don't worry. I'm not going :)

In a couple weeks I'll be running the North Face 50K, and I'm preparing for that event with pretty much zero expectations outside of beating my time from Chippewa of 4:40. That event will be a victory lap on a crazy year of running (see sidebar) that started in January with an indoor marathon and isn't quite over yet (I still have my annual "Birthday Run" in late December, and by the finish line at North Face I'll be looking forward to continuing to run at leisure, in the woods, away from roads and curbs and sidewalks, rather than thinking about the next tempo run I need to get in on the roads to prepare to run hard on concrete for 3 hours at an upcoming marathon.
I'm very proud of myself for making the decision to pass on another marathon this year...perhaps in my old age I'm learning a bit of restraint?

4 comments:

SteveQ said...

So you're smart enough to not do another marathon, but 31 miles is okay? I'm hoping I can keep myself to just a few races next year, rather than the usual 15-20.

BTW, I don't have any advice on tapering for the North Face. Be sure to kick Helen in the shin there for me!

Runner Tammy said...

Hmm...

I thought this was a rhetorical question and was expecting the answer: Both!

But alas I guess you are smarter than I:-)

Good luck in your upcoming events,
Tammy

Nitmos said...

So, no Bonneville in Texas eh? Too bad.

Congratulations, I guess, on the DNS.

Helen said...

Sorry but you won't get the chance to kick me (not that you would anyway!) - no more racing for me this year other than possibly the half in Vegas. Saw your more recent post also - it's so damn tempting isn't it just to do a race on the fly... but good decision to stick with NF. Glacial is fun though I am hoping to go back there next year. Though my end of year plans never pan out so perhaps I should stop making them...