So the next 6-12 months will be very demanding, with numerous endurance events on my calendar. I’m giving myself 60-90 days to prepare for race season….and then the fireworks begin.
In early August, the first marathon on my comeback trail will be Camarillo on August 8th. That’s only 8 weeks away, so I will most definitely NOT be in strong enough shape to put forth an “A” effort. This one will be treated like a long training run: no pressure – just finish.
September has another marathon on tap, with Surf City. It’s an out & back course with a mostly flat elevation profile. I’ll have approximately 12 weeks of training under my belt, so I expect myself to hold a slightly faster pace and perform more in line with what I’ve historically accomplished (which isn’t much – I’ve always been slow). The goal here is to see some progress in the finishing time and pace per mile as compared to Camarillo.
October is where things begin to heat up a bit. Long Beach Marathon on the 10th, followed by the Rock n Roll San Diego Marathon on the 24th. I’m looking for an increase in performance with regard to finishing time and pace as compared to Surf City…and I want my time in San Diego to beat my finishing time in Long Beach by a minimum of five minutes. If all goes as planned, these two races drive me into my “A” races in November.
November 7th. New York Freakin’ City. 26.2 miles running through the greatest city on Earth. I’m running with the New York Road Runners Team for Kids – a charity that I’ve been involved with as an athlete and a mentor for the better part of a decade. ( Here’s my athlete page, in case you may be interested in making a donation https://www.runwithtfk.org/Profile/PublicPage/1289/51269 ). If I do this right, I’m gunning for a PR at this event. I want 4:50.
14 days later – on November 21st – I compete in Ironman Arizona. Swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, run 26.2 miles, and cross the finish line before the clock hits midnight. This is a VERY big deal to me. This is the one I want. The goal here is to just finish – because just finishing is a big frackin’ deal. I’m running as part of the Ironman Foundation, and I’ll provide a link in the coming couple of weeks. This is going to be the way I’m planning to celebrate my 51st birthday: by sweating my copious ass off in the Arizona desert.
The following week – November 27th – will be my first ultra as a California resident: the Napa 50k. If I’m going to exceed the marathon distance, there better be some damn wine around.
December may have a triathlon in the cards – but November is a huge month, so I’m not 100% sure yet.
Rolling into January 2022, I’m planning on running the Carlsbad Marathon on the 16th. In February, I’m targeting the Ventura Marathon, and then April 2nd: Ironman 70.3 Oceanside.
