Posts Tagged ‘Cleveland Marathon’

My training cycle for the Baltimore Marathon was definitely the best. Any issues I had were minor.

In these first couple of weeks of Shamrock Half training, and now Cleveland Marathon training, things haven’t started so well. While last week’s trail race was a ton of fun, the tumble I took really left me banged up and threw off my whole week. I still have scabs and bruises.

Instead of my first run coming Monday, it came Tuesday; I was planning to do my long run of 8 miles on Saturday, but I just didn’t feel up to it after I ran Thursday and Friday; I ended up just not feeling well at all Saturday, which led to waking up not feeling great Sunday; I actually debated on not running today, but after a nap I felt better and ended up doing a mid-afternoon run of 7 miles.

At the end of all this, I’m glad I pushed through it today. I’m disappointed in falling short of my planned distance today and for the week, but getting in an hour of running felt good. It was actually my first run of more than an hour in the winter in more than 2 years. Last year I didn’t run anything beyond 4 miles in the winter.

I won’t let some minor setbacks get me down, but I certainly hope I don’t have any other weird things come my way any time soon.

I signed up for the Cleveland Marathon on Friday, which drastically changes my approach to the whole year. I have been indecisive about what to do this spring for a couple of months now – while the Shamrock Half Marathon is my No. 1 priority, I believe that a spring marathon will only enhance my experience in Virginia Beach in March.

With doing some initial planning, the timing is perfect — Shamrock is 9 weeks before Cleveland; this summer I ran the Lynchburg Half Marathon 9 weeks before the Baltimore Marathon. My planned mileage and long runs before Shamrock really don’t change all that much by signing up for the marathon.

I have had a lot of thoughts wrapped up in my head about a spring marathon, and it’s relieving to finally have the chance to get them out. As I hinted yesterday, this hasn’t been an easy decision.

One of my favorite Dave Matthews Band songs is “Rhyme & Reason,” which has the lyrics “My head won’t leave my head alone.” That’s the way I have felt about choosing a race for next spring. I’ve hinted at a few things in a previous post, but that was only the beginning of some thoughts.

Here are things that have actually crossed my mind — in no real order — and why I have legitimately thought these things:

• Upgrading to the Shamrock Marathon
  At one time this was my most realistic next marathon. Then I went back and re-read a post from March when I missed the race due to my injury: “I’m going back to Virginia Beach next year for the Shamrock Half as a stronger runner, but perhaps more importantly a smarter runner. (Although is saying publicly that I want to break 1:40 being smart?)” The only thing that’s certain right now is that in 4 months I will toe the line of the Shamrock Half. That sub 1:40 goal? We’ll see.
• Charlottesville Marathon
  I’ve had this race in the back of my mind for a while. The timing of it actually would work well too. If I did this, the Shamrock Half would be the ceremonious ending to training as I tapered for this race, which is April 7. It definitely makes sense to choose this marathon, but the $90 price tag for a smaller marathon makes me hesitate a bit. However, it’s proximity to me offsets any travel costs.
• Marine Corps Marathon
  After I signed up for Baltimore and then had time to think about what I had done, I wished I had made the snap decision a month earlier and signed up for MCM. Hindsight is 20/20, though, so now I’m setting my sites on March 7 — the signup day for the 2012 Marine Corps Marathon. That, of course, is subject to change.
• Cleveland Marathon
  I had a realization on my recent Ohio trip — I use a lot of my vacation time visiting my in-laws. So why not turn a trip to Ohio into something more? How about a spring marathon (May 20) in Ohio? Right now this scenario has an edge over Charlottesville.
• Glass City Marathon
  It’s funny how things I’ve never heard of seem to make their appearance several times over a few days on my Twitter feed. Toledo is known as the Glass City? Never heard that. A marathon in Toledo? It turns out this is a pretty popular marathon in Ohio earlier in the spring (April 22). It also has a respectable price tag, but I’d have to say right now from a timing standpoint this is the least likely of the races I’d chose in the spring.
• Ragnar Relay
  I can’t even begin to explain my thoughts about this. I would love to participate in a Ragnar Relay. At this point, there are a lot of logistics I need to work out for any of them to become realistic. And if the stars aligned, most of these other things besides Shamrock won’t happen. Simply put, a Ragnar Relay would be THE highlight of 2012.
• Blue Ridge Marathon
  I’ve thought about this marathon, yes, but it’s nowhere near realistic thoughts. I’d really like to do the half again after missing it this year and seeing if I can beat my time from a couple of years ago when I didn’t really race it. This race is April 21, which would be a nice follow-up to the Shamrock Half, similar to what I did 2 years ago.
• Richmond Marathon
  As usual, Richmond has the temptation of a lower entry fee for next year through this Thursday. It’s my home away from home race course, and I would love to go back there for a third time and break 4 hours. My biggest hold up from taking advantage of the price is my desire to do the Marine Corps Marathon.

Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net