The Erie Marathon on September 14th!
I had mentioned a couple weeks ago that I was looking at this marathon and I just found out over the weekend that I got in via the wait list! I’m really pumped that I got into this race! It’s a lot closer than the other options I was looking at, it’s cheaper, and it gives me three extra weeks of training that Santa Rosa (my second choice) wasn’t going to give me.
I had put together a training plan based on Santa Rosa on August 24th since that was the earliest race on my possibility list and I needed to get moving on training. It’s nice knowing what race I’m actually training for now and, since I’ve been running like crap lately, I’m glad to have an extra three weeks of training.
Based on everything I’m looking for, I think this race gives me the best chance of a BQ for 2015. It’s as late as possible which gives me more time to work hard and reduces the chances of the weather being overly hot. It’s a flat course and, according to some quick research (i.e. a single Google search), the humidity should be much more manageable than anything closer to the coast.
The one thing I’m a little nervous about is the lack of pace groups at this race. I typically run marathons with a pace group, at least to start, so I’ll need to work hard to keep my pace in check on my own. I may finally have to invest in a GPS watch. Though, I since the pace group running a little fast in New Jersey was one of my (many) issues, this could be a blessing in disguise. We’ll have to see!
Anyway, I’ve got 14 weeks and a whole lot of work ahead of me! Motivation has been hard to come by recently with my running still being in a rut, but I think finally knowing what race I’m training for will help pull me out of a rut and get me going.
What’s your next race? Has training started yet?