Season Training is Here!

So here's my lofty set of goals for this year. The upcoming races I plan to attend are:

• Lake Nasworthy Triathlon (July)
• Dallas Half Marathon (August)
• American Heart Run 3M (September or October)
• Rock 'n' Roll Marathon (November)
• Turkey Trot 3M (November)

The main goal is the Marathon (my first), so if I don't make it to the other two, then that's okay by me. I'm going to take it really easy and just increase my running distance by a mile ever week or every other week (this weekend I'll run 8).

Crazy? Maybe. But there's no time like the present. I don't particularly want to train for another half marathon because I kind of feel like I've already done that and I don't relish the idea of trying to beat my old time (that's so tough, mentally). I really like the goal of "let's just finish." Yes. Yes, I do.

So, beyond the miles, here's a few things that I'm planning to do this summer. This comes from my experience from my previous half marathon and a four-mile run I had this weekend.

• Buy reflective tape/attachments. I'm going to have to do a lot of running after the sun goes down and before it comes up to beat the Texas heat and I don't want to get run over. This weekend, Kevin and I will probably go to Academy or Wal-mart and see what's available. Whatever we get has to be light, easy to attach, and add no additional clothing that my cause us to pass out from heat exhaustion.
• Don't eat chips before a run. So I love to have my corn days on running days, but that presents a problem when the salt content leaves me with dry mouth and my tail hangs a little lower like Kent and Kaiya's after they've been run down. I'll either need to start using my rice days or other carb day for the run -OR- wait to eat the chips after the run (so hard to do when I'm running at 9 pm!).
• Wear head bands, not clips. Since I've got bangs now (thanks Kayla!!), I've gotten a little fussy about the hair on runs. I like them, no doubt. But I'm sure I look like I'm slapping myself for motivation rather than moving hair out of the way. I tried clips this weekend, but that's not cuttin' it with my blow-away hair. So, it's back to the rubberized head band from college. Hopefully I won't loose this one. :)
• Drinking water/sports drink no matter how long the run. It's hot and I can't get away with running a three miler without my water belt right now while my body is adjusting to the heat. Maybe later in the summer, but not right now. I'm going to go easy.
• If I start to hurt too much, I'll back off on the miles. I can say that the Marathon is my goal for this year, but if I feel like it's too soon. That's okay. I'll just meet some of the other goal races on my list, and then see if I can't run a full another year. No big deal. No pressure.
• New music. While I was training for my half, I started out with music from our own collection (you know, up beat stuff like U2). When I heard that music enough, I added a different selection after going through our less used collection. When I heard that music enough, then I went to the radio and used that mostly throughout the training. But radio stations put their music selection on a loop, so the longer I'm out on a run the more often I'll hear that whole loop, and that makes me think about how long I've been out there. That's no fun. So I'll need to do some re-thinking about the music.

Hopefully I'll be running injury free here and it will all be a matter of sheer will power.