2012 Race Schedule

I'm about 2 weeks into my base training load, so I thought now would be as good as time as any to post my 2012 race schedule, outline the category of the race for me(A, B, C), and the purpose of it.  Having it out in cyberspace helps hold me accountable and it may spark some ideas for your upcoming season.  It will be here before you know it.

2/11 - Red Flannel 5 Mile Race
Category -  C
Purpose - The primary objective of this race is to get a benchmark of where my run training is,  open up the legs a little bit,  put myself in the 'hurt box' for a while, and shoot for a PR which would be anything under a 7:35/mile pace - I think this is very doable.

4/28 - Drake Half Marathon
Category - B
Purpose - One of my goals this year is to improve my overall base and this early season race will be a good benchmark to see how I'm doing.  I kind of fell apart toward the end of this race last year, so hopefully I can finish strong.  This is also another opportunity to mentally 'embrace the pain' for a longer period of time.  A PR would be nice as well which is to improve on the 8:35/mile pace.

5/20 - Bluff Creek Oly
Category - C
Purpose - This was a terrible race for me last year as I just don't do well in cold temps.  With that being said, I'd like to go back and prove to myself that I can do much better on the course than the first go around.  Doing this race will also allow me to work on race situations, transitions, and everything that goes along with race preparations.


6/2 - Dam to Dam
Category - C
Purpose - Dam to Dam is just a fun race to do and one that I try and incorporate into my race schedule every year.  This will not be an 'all-out' type of race for me as the following week is one of my 'A' races of the year.

6/10 - Kansas 1/2
Category - A
Purpose - This is my 'A' race of the year - the purpose of this race is to put my 6 months of training to the test and reap the rewards. 

7/14 - Lifetime Oly
Category - B
Purpose - I really like this course and I had a good time when I did it a few years ago, so I'd like to give it another go - aka, just for the hell of it.

8/3-8/5 - Mock IM Louisville - Day 1: 2.4 mile swim, Day 2 : 112 mile ride, Day 3 : 2.5 hour run
Category - A
Purpose - To evaluate current training plan, have a strong base going into next year's 2013 IMLou, and understand what adjustments(i.e. limiters) will need to be addressed.


9/2 - Hy-Vee Oly
Category - A/B
Purpose - Hoping the recovery of the mock IM is fairly quick since it spans over 3 days so I can get back to 100% for Hy-Vee.  This is a local race and I regretted not doing it last year.

10/21 - Des Moines Marathon
Category: B
Purpose - I've never done a stand-alone marathon so I think this would be a great opportunity.  I'll have some pretty good running fitness carried over from the Mock IM - the key will be not losing too much of it during Hy-Vee prep. 

Should be an interesting year with a lot of opportunities for growth and, more importantly, a good time of racing.  The key to being able to go into these races feeling fresh is having a solid pre-season plan, and planning recovery accordingly.