Half Mary

My sister and I have been trying to decide which half marathon we want to run.  The fact that we are even considering doing this together is unbelievable.  Holly was always the runner, not me.  And if we were ever going to run anything together, I didn't think it would be any longer than a 5K.  But, I have been bitten by the running bug...HARD.  I did 4.75 miles on the treadmill this morning, and I am having to hold myself back from wanting to run more....harder....longer.  I don't want to get injured so I know that I have to be smart about the training.

I had originally intended to run the Fox Cities half marathon in September, and I think I still will.  But it is January and September is a long way off.  I want to stay motivated and keep my training going, so I think I want to do an early half marathon.  The Madison race is May 30th.  That should give me plenty of time to work up my mileage and also get some good miles running outside.  I haven't run outside in over a month now.  I do have a race in a week and a half, so I really need to get some running done on the streets....not just the treadmill.  But it is hard to want to layer up and face the cold, when I can just put on a pair of shorts and watch TV while I run downstairs. 

I was looking at my calendar this morning and trying to plan my races.  I would love to run more races, but I need to protect myself from overuse and overtraining.  This is what the race schedule looks like so far:
January--1 5K
February--1 5K (with the possibility of another 5K)
March--1 5K (looking for a 10K)
April--1 6mile, 1 8K
May--1 20K, 1 half marathon
June--2 10K
July--1 5mile, 1 5K (first anniversary of my first ever race!)
August--1 5K
September--half marathon
October--1 10mile

I may add a couple more races, especially 5K's if they fit into my taper period for the longer races.  Looking at it, it seems pretty ambitious.  I hope I can pull it off.  And I am praying for no injuries.