12 marathons. 12 months.
Suddenly I hear the ticking clock – only 10 days until my first marathon of 2010!
I delayed posting about my upcoming races because I was trying to finalize my race calendar while determining which of my 12 marathons will be considered “A Events” (to be discussed later).
I almost have my entire race calendar penned but I am still searching for a California marathon for the months of August and September. I may change my she dule as I find more interesting races, but I won’t deviate from my goal of 12 marathons in 12 months.
Everyone seems to be curious as to how I am going to do this: What is my strategy? Which training programs will I depend on to get me through this tough year? Understandably there is also a lot of concern about injuries considering my lack of recovery time between races. I obviously asked myself all these questions and I still ask myself questions as I fine tune a few things here and there. Luckily, my 2009 year ended with a marathon so I started 2010 with a running base already established. For that race (CIM), I followed an 18-week program by Hal Higdon ( Advanced II). I won’t necessarily follow this program again (it was great but I have discovered my own program according to my needs), but I will maintain my weekly mileage of 50-60 miles per week including one track workout. You can check out Hal’s training programs on his webiste — he has programs for all levels.
Yesterday while drafting up this blog, I happened to run across an article from Active.com titled, “The ABCs of Planning your Race Schedule.” I felt like this article was written just for me (wink) and I decided to use their terminology and method of dividing my races into A, B and C events to help get me through my year-end goal while placing an emphasized focus on a few key events.
A Events will be the marathons that I race all out. I have two of these marathons on my calendar – LA Marathon (3/21) and ING NY (11/07). I will definitely go for a PR (regardless of course differences when comparing to CIM). These races will require strategic planning, and of course, tapering. I will want to be as fresh as possible when I am on the starting line. Last year I joined LA Roadrunners (LARR) to train for LA Marathon 2010. Since my goal at the time of joining was CIM, I kept to my CIM training program and adjusted my LARR training accordingly (mostly cutting the long runs short as I got closer to my race). Once CIM (A Event) was over, I put my next focus on LA Marathon (no longer a B Event).
Time Goal: 3:20:52 (~7:40 pace)
B Events Most of my marathons this year will fall into this category – races that are no doubt important, but secondary to A Events. Running smart will take precedence over timed goals. This doesn’t mean that I won’t put effort into these races I just have to remember that I need to run ALL 12. Running on ego won’t allow me to do that. Tapering will be minimal (if I tapered for every race, my schedule would be only a few short runs, lots of rest and then a bunch of 26 milers) and I will use these races as a long training day.
Time Goal: 3:40-4:00 (~8:45 to 9:15 pace)
C Events will be other races I throw into the schedule that aren’t related to my goal. Mostly fun 5Ks and 10ks (like turkey trots, Bay to Breaker type-of-events and other races that have cool swag-shirts). With less than two weeks before CIM, I ran a C Event on Thanksgiving morning – a 5k turkey trot. I literally trotted long, crossing the finish line in 24:03.
Thank you for following me on this journey. Your support is tremendous and greatly appreciated.
Trace B. 
5K in 24 and change is a bit better than a trot for some of us ; ) I like the ABC deliniation; it’s a great way to accommodate more races and draw focus on those PR attempts.
Any thoughts towards an Ultra? I’m taking part in the Connemarathon (Connemara, Ireland) in April; they have a half, a full and an Ultra (35 miles) though wonderful green mountains. They also have heavenly Guinness.
January 14, 2010 at 4:34 pm
Thank you! I always think of ultras – I seem to get better during the run as the mileage increases but I feel like I need to accomplish one goal at a time. I find it amazing that people find more and more ways of “pushing” the running limits, I mean…Where will it end? What is next?
I will have to check out the Connemarathon — sound really exciting! Look forward to following you!
January 15, 2010 at 3:05 pm
WOW! You are going to be busy this year. Sounds like a lot of fun. I’m not quite there yet, but I can see that in my near future. ;o)
January 15, 2010 at 9:58 am
Go Tracy! I was definitely one of those ones questioning “How will you do this?” but it looks like you have a great strategy! It makes sense to focus on 2 Marathons for PR Attempts. I hear NYC is a tough course though I must admit I am jealous that you are going to run it, more so after my recent trip to NY. How did you get in BTW?
January 15, 2010 at 11:46 pm
I am hoping to do anywhere from 9-14 marathons this year. Looks like we’re doing a lot of the same races! I am still finalizing out my calendar right now. I am looking forward to seeing how you handle the running in between the races. I feel like it will be hard to stick to traditional training plans.
January 19, 2010 at 2:04 pm
I love your blog — I almost fell over laughing when I saw the photo of your black toe. I got two this year and I am so proud. I have them all photographed and I even took photos while I got my pedicure to post online. I was a little embarassed but it seems like almost all runners get them and now I will reconsider posting them. Good luck this year — it seems you are ready for the challenge with a solid background. I look forward to following you online. Cheers.
January 20, 2010 at 5:34 pm
Like Sweder, I’d say a 5K in under 25mins is a pretty peppy pace for the likes of this guy! Best of luck on this year-long adventure, and hope to see you at the Firecracker! I’ll be WELL behind you, of course, but maybe we’ll meet up after. 🙂
January 21, 2010 at 9:24 pm
I feel bad saying that now! LOL We will see you at Firecracker (and DM).
January 21, 2010 at 11:12 pm
Hey…I just stumbled on your blog and your awesome goal of running 12 marathons in 12 months…so just had to leave a note and say how inspiring that is! The coolest part is that one of them is in my hometown in NY, yay! Anyway, keep up the good work and the training and maybe I’ll see you in NY. (I’ve run that five times, going for my 6th this year!) Woohoo!
January 21, 2010 at 10:06 pm
Thank you! That is awesome – six NY marathons! I am such a newbie, what a great accomplishment.
January 21, 2010 at 11:11 pm
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