Fall Race Plans

"Some running is good, more is better, and too much is just enough."

I signed up for my fall races this week. Well, I have one more to sign up for but the last quarter of 2011 is pretty much planned out.

My plan for 2011 was to focus on trail races for the last half of the year after the Seattle Marathon. Since I had to push back my marathon plans to August, the trail running got squished into the last 4 months instead.

These are the races I signed up for:

*A Hurricane JEM 16.5 Mile Trail Race on October 15th in Virgin, Utah. And this is what they have to say about it on the website:

All trail marathon and 16.5 Mile run. Extremely scenic vistas prevail as you traverse your way through the course. Approximately half the trail is gorgeous single track with many scenic view points. The other half of the trail will be packed dirt road. You will literally run through Zion National Parks' back porch!! Remember...this is trail! There will be hills going up and hills coming down! Rocks, cactus and other obstacles will be on the trail Have fun, watch your step and enjoy the amazing run.

This will be about 6 weeks after the Santa Rosa Marathon and I plan on just having fun and enjoying the views on the run. Having said that...I'm guaranteed a PR with this race because I've never run a 16.5 mile race before!

*The San Dimas Turkey Trot 10K in San Dimas, CA on November 26th. Yes, the same San Dimas from Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. This will be my 3rd year running it. This is the blurb for this run:

Come join us for a 5K Run/Walk, 10K Run &1/2 mile Kids Run - This is not your typical Turkey Trot. These holiday runs have a mixture of dirt and paved trails. You are going to feel like a pilgrim running across a stream and through the woods. This run has great mountain and lake views. Come out and burn those holiday calories. Take a break from your Christmas shopping and get out to Bonelli Park for a fun filled holiday run, you won't be sorry you did.

I do most of my trail runs here so I know this route really well and this is the one fall race I plan on running hard. I want to shave a few minutes off my 10K PR here. I'm thinking around 50 minutes. I hope! Jason, my coach, thinks I have a good shot at getting close.

*The Death Valley Trail Marathon on December 3rd in Death Valley, CA. Never mind that Death Valley brings all kinds of hard core images to mind, this is what they have to say about this course:

This scenic wilderness trail run is on a gravel jeep road from Beatty, NV through the picturesque Titus Canyon, finishing in Death Valley (entire run is in Death Valley National Park). The desert is beautiful this time of year with mild temperatures; lows at night between 30 and 40 degrees and highs during the day from the low-60s to mid-70s. This is our most spectacular trail event of the year and well worth the weekend away. Truly, an experience you won't forget. The event is limited to 300 participants and sells out months in advance so don't wait too long to register!

Oh, and this little blurb about the small hills in it. ;)

The trail marathon starts at 3460 feet of elevation. It climbs to 4900 feet over the first nine miles then descends 500 feet before climbing to the highest point on the course at 5250 feet of elevation. The last 14 miles are DOWNHILL to the finish line at 250 feet.

That is going to be some downhill! I think that's scarier than the climbing! I think it will be fun and I know one person who's signed up for it so a meet-up will be an added bonus. This will be used as a long training run with support for the last race of the year...

*And finally, the New Year's One Day 12 Hour run on December 31st in San Francisco, CA. The 12 Hour starts at noon and finishes at midnight. Here's what they have to say about this one:

Each lap is 1.061 miles around the lagoon at Crissy Field with spectacular views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Angel Island, Alcatraz and the San Francisco Bay. Welcome the new year at Crissy Field, run from 2010 through to 2011 surrounded by the beautiful views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the coastline. You might even get to see the fireworks!

I cannot believe I signed up for a 12 Hour run! The longest I've ever run before was 5:12 and that was my 1st marathon. Funny thing is, I'm not scared. I'm a little excited!

This "race" was inspired by 2 people: my friend Kylie and Joshua Holmes (@bayou) from Run It Fast.

Kylie ran the Nanny Goat 24HR race at the end of May and just posted her recap of it. She's a multi-ironwoman and she's one of the toughest runners/cylcists I know. I saw her complete Vineman despite having some major stomach issues! She'd never run more than 40 miles in one day when she signed up for this and ended up doing 100 miles. The Nanny Goat has a similar format to the New Year's One Day and I liked the logistics of it. If I can't get anyone to come up to San Francisco with me, then I'll be able to do it self-supported since it's a loop course.

I followed Joshua Holmes as he ran the Vol State 500K. No, that's not a typo. He ran 500K in 8 days, 7 minutes! You can read his recap here.>. I've been following him for a while and was amazed at how many marathons he was running. I was like “how does he do that?” and then I saw that he was doing the Vol State 500K and his status got bumped up to “superhero”. Seeing his daily posts on Facebook and Twitter was a lot of fun and it got me thinking about how far I could go. By the way, he not only ran 500K but he also raised over $6000 for mycharity:water while doing it. I think his you can still make donations to it if you would like to see clean water provided to a few more people! This is the link.

So after hearing about the incredible journeys that these two took, I decided to go for the 12 Hour run instead of the 6 Hour. 2011 has been an incredible year for me so far and I only see more adventure and fun for the rest of the year. I plan on ending 2011 with a bang!

Are you going to ring in the New Year with a run? Might as well start the year off on the right foot (or left one), eh?