Monday, March 28, 2011

How do you pick races?

I am only signed up for one more race this spring: A Run to Remember. I have been contemplating a few others: Doyle's 5 mile, Providence 1/2, Lexington Lions 5 mile, Falmouth 7 mile road race, Providence Rock'n Roll 1/2 marathon, and the New York Marathon.

Err...how do you choose?? I am having a hard time mostly because these races are EXPENSIVE!!! My budget is not that large and then to go spend $30-$160 on a race is tough. In addition, some of these races are not close and start EARLY, so I have to think about lodging too. My final problem is that I do not have a car (we are hoping to purchase one this summer), so I have to rely on my family for rides.

So with these parameters...how do I choose? I really enjoy road races, but I can't do them all.

How do you choose road races? Any FUN races that I just have to do?


Speaking of racing, in preparation for my 1/2 marathon in May I decided to increase the amount of days I run from 3 to 4. My new plan is to do a light run on Mondays, 4-5 miles of speed/hills on Tuesdays, medium distance on Thursdays (5-7), and long on Saturdays. I will also continue with my cross training on the other two days (i.e., spinning, elliptical, stair climber).

So, today I did a light 3 miles on the treadmill (27 minutes), followed by a few chest, biceps and leg exercises. It was a great workout! I will see how my legs (and knees) do with this extra day of running. If I start to feel any pain I will drop back to the three days of week.

I came home to a delicious dinner of fresh butternut squash, pumpkin and caramelized onions raviolis with a little homemade red sauce on top. YUM!!!


And homemade salad with pepper goat cheese, crasins and cucumbers


And of course a little bread!


An AMAZING dinner!!! Have a great night!

4 comments:

  1. Um, why am I not at your place for dinner? That plate looks gorgeous!

    I figure out my road races based on location (have I wanted to run that course?), significance (is it a race I've always dreamed of running?) and timing. If you have a lot of good choices, I'd go with location first, just because it's nice to have an excuse to run in pretty places.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am doing the Doyle's 5 miler! You should do it, I've heard the shirt is great, who doesn't love a great race t?!

    In terms of picking races, definitely enter the lottery for NYC!!! NYC was my very first marathon and it was absolutely amazing :) It's really well run and you run through each borough and finish in central park! The Falmouth Road race is also amazing, but unfortunately I can't do that one this year because I have a wedding that weekend!

    Let's talk sometime soon and compare schedules, it would be fun to see you at a race :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you guys for the advice on the races.

    Kim- I will sign up for Doyle's--let's try to meet up after b/c I have a friend from work who is having an after party right around there. So, it would be fun to go!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Laur - the Providence Rock & Roll 1/2 sounds fun! I will be doing the Nashville Country Rock & Roll in 3 weeks (yikes, I don't think I'm prepared), but the event sounds really fun with live music all along the course. I have heard good things from other people who have done this type of marathon. I'll let you know how it is... I definitely anticipate a unique and memorable experience! :-)

    ReplyDelete