So I’m not gonna lie to you guys…I’ve been thinking about my 2016 race schedule since the fall. Once I couldn’t run (whether it was due to injury or being sick, or both) I became fixated on both redemption and starting anew.
Not that I had to redeem myself from anything. I totally get that. It’s more that not being able to run was making me crazy and thinking ahead to 2016 — and the blank slate it provided — was a way for me to focus my crazies.
So far the only race I’ve committed to is Boston’s Run to Remember Half Marathon (for the third time) on May 29. As you may remember, I’m running with the Alzheimer’s Association in my grandfather’s memory, and I’m in the process of raising $1,000 for this very worthy cause. (Here’s the obligatory plug for my fundraising page!).
In some ways, having that half marathon circled on my 2016 calendar has made it a little easier to plan the rest of the year, since now I can map out my training in advance and figure out where I can fit in other races (something that may prove challenging this spring in between a warm weather family vacation and a girls weekend and a milestone birthday).
And, of course, there’s the elephant in the room. My heel issues. I go for my PT consult the end of the month and I’ve been slowly getting back out there, running three times a week and maxing out at 6 miles. I’ve experienced zero-to-minimal post-running pain, which I take a good sign, especially considering where I was just a few months ago.
But am I jinxing things? A part of me is hesitant to really commit to any other races right now until I have more evidence that my heel is better…there’s nothing worse than paying $50+ in race registration fees and then not being able to run.
So basically this is a very long-winded way for me to say that I’ve identified those races that are on my radar in 2016. Will I run all of them? Absolutely not (um, yeah, there’s no way I can run this many half marathons in a year!). But I’d like to run more than the 9 races I ran last year.
Here are the races on my radar for 2016:
February
Old Fashioned 10-Miler (Foxboro, Mass.)
March
Shamrock Shuffle 5K (which I’ll run with my son)
Run for the Border Half Marathon (Rye, NH to Mass. border)
April
Run the Reservoir 15K (N. Scituate, RI)
James Joyce Ramble 10K (Dedham, Mass.)
May
Cox Providence Half Marathon (Providence, RI)
Boston’s Run to Remember Half Marathon (Boston, Mass.)
June
Newport 10-Miler (Newport, RI)
Gaspee Days 5K (Warwick, RI)
Sharon Timlin Memorial Road Race to Cure ALS 5K (Hopkinton, Mass.)
August
Beach to Beacon 10K (Cape Elizabeth, ME) ** this will be my third straight year entering the lottery for this one (fingers crossed!)
September
Surftown Half Marathon (Westerly, RI) or Harvest Wine Run (Newport, RI) ** races are on the same day (boo)
Wicked Half Marathon (Salem, Mass.)
October
Smuttynose Half Marathon (Hampton Beach, NH)
Gansett Half Marathon (Narragansett, RI)
Canton Fall Classic 10K (Canton, Mass.)
November
Flippin’ Fun Turkey Trot 5K (Wyomissing, PA)
December
Jingle Bell Half Marathon (Atkinson, NH)
There you have it! Stay tuned for updates throughout the year, and if you’re planning to run any of these races too, shoot me an email (jessica [at] keepingmommysane.com) and let me know!