Spring/Summer 2016 Race Schedule

It is finally time to start thinking about my spring and summer racing schedule. I’ve been busting my butt all winter long, and I will finally be able to see my hard work pay off. I’ll be racing everything from the 5K to the marathon–I love it all.

My ‘A’ race is Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, MN in June. This is where I’ll be going for a sub-3 hour marathon. It is scary, yet super exciting that I might be able to do this. (Especially since Grandma’s Marathon in 2010 was my inaugural marathon with a time of 3:42–and I thought I trained hard for that race!)

The teeny-tiny Freedom Run in my hometown in Minnesota.

Here’s a list of the races I plan to do this spring and summer. It is time for winter to be over and the racing season to start!

April 9 – Superhero Showdown 5K

This will be a new race for me, and it is only in its second year of existence. It was named the Best Race for Kids in the Northwest by Competitor Magazine. It should be a pretty flat course but with two hairpin turns–hopefully they aren’t too tight.

April 23 – Alaska Heart Run 5K

I badly need to break my 5K PR of 19:20. I know I can do it, and I figure 2 chances are better than one. Plus this is the premier 5K of the year and everyone knows it kicks off the summer racing schedule!

May 28 – Trent/Waldron Half-Marathon

I’ve done this half-marathon several times before. I like that it is a relatively flat course, and it doesn’t end on a hill (unlike many of the other races in town). I think this will be a great half to do just a few weeks out from the marathon, and it will be a good indicator of how the marathon will go.

June 3 – Twilight 12K

I love this race! I don’t love that the race is in the evening, but I love the energy, it is usually gorgeous weather (and now I am probably jinxing the day), and it is definitely a premier event leading into the rest of the summer races. It is an odd distance at just shy of 7.5 miles, but the course is fun and the post-party is a good one as well. (Not that I’m ever hungry for pizza afterwards anyhow.)

June 18 – Grandma’s Marathon (Duluth, MN)

This is the big one! My ‘A’ race for the summer. The one I’ve trained so deliberately for all winter. I’m actually already nervous just thinking about it since so much of my training is based on this one day. But I am very excited for this race. I am glad I’ve run the course before and know what to expect. It is a flat, fast course with hardly any turns, a lot of competition, and great crowd support especially once you get half-way.

July 17 – Her Tern Half-Marathon

I always highly recommend this event to any female who is a beginning runner. You can’t beat the ‘girl power’ and uplifting support at this women’s-only event. I’m not sure how recovered from the marathon I’ll be, but this is such a fun event I can’t pass it up.

Running the Alaska Run for Women–decked out in all my pink for breast cancer.

August 6 – Alaska 10K Classic

There aren’t too many 10Ks, so I want to run this and officially break 40 minutes in the 10K.

August 21 – Moose’s Tooth Marathon

I’m in a little bit of a pickle for this race. I accidentally committed myself to being in Minnesota this weekend and in Anchorage to run the marathon. My brother-in-law with be graduating with his PhD in Minneapolis this weekend. We had planned to fly out for the weekend to see him graduate, and then we would stay through the next week and weekend as my sister will be getting married. It was perfect. Until I realized that the marathon is also that weekend. I’m not sure what I’m going to do now. There is only one other road marathon option up here in September, but how many people earn their PhDs? I’m going to wait to see how Grandma’s goes and then decide what to do.

That’s what I have in store for this summer. It is quite a few races, but there are only so many months we can truly race up here, so I have to take advantage of them. I might do a couple races into the fall, but nothing will be an ‘A’ race for me.