As we head into the last full month of summer, I’ve started planning my fall “race schedule.” Planning a race schedule seems so foreign to me right now. But I am excited to get back out there and have a new race to train for.
Early in 2020, I declared my “big goal” was to get back to a 1:25 half marathon. A time that was once so easy is now extremely foreign. A time I haven’t run in over 3 years. Wow. Obviously, that never happened, pandemic or not; I broke my foot and moved twice. I’ve still run A LOT during that time, but I haven’t raced much at all. The Coronado 12k that I ran at 6:42 pace on July 3rd was fine. Not great, but fine.
My next “big race,” and I guess you could say my first big race since the pandemic, is the San Franciso Half Marathon in mid-September. I will be doing the “first half.” What’s unique about the San Francisco Race series is that you can choose from two different half marathons. You can run the first half of the second half of the marathon racecourse. Plus, there is a 5k, 10k, marathon, and even ultra marathon. Finally, there is a virtual option for those who don’t want to race in person or don’t live locally. So there are a lot of options.
Despite living in Norcal for 9 months, I never got to experience a Northern California road race. I did a few trail races but nothing on the roads. So I am excited to go back and partner with the San Francisco Race series. If you use the code: Fueledbylolz, you can get 15% off any race entry you choose.
So what is the plan? The Bay Area is hilly. Right now, running a lot of hills isn’t a big option for me because the hilly sand dunes in the desert are either extremely hot (often well above 100 degrees before 7 am) or hidden with poisonous rattlesnakes. I’ve been running a couple of times on the treadmill to get some hill training in. The first half of the San Francisco race has nearly 1000 feet of elevation climb, so I’ve been trying to get that back in. I won’t lie, I miss having the accessibility to so many hills when I lived in Napa, but we must do what we can.
What is my goal?
Right now, my goal for the San Francisco Half is to run under 1:30. It’s a challenging goal since my current fitness had me running 1:30 on a flatter course. But, I have two months to work towards it.
| Monday: | Easy 11 miles with strides |
| Tuesday: | 4X 5 minutes hard with 3 minutes rest (average pace 6:27) total mileage 10 |
| PM: 5 miles on the treadmill 750 feet climb | |
| Wednesday: | Easy 10 miles easy |
| Thursday: | AM: 5 miles easy |
| PM: 5 miles climbing 500 feet | |
| Friday: | 12 miles with strides |
| Saturday: | 5-mile tempo (total miles 10) |
| Sunday: | AM: 5 miles easy PM: 5 miles easy |
Thoughts from the Week:
Training went fairly well. To be honest, last week felt like it took a year and a half to get through. The days felt longer than they should, but it was nice to welcome the weekend. I hit the appropriate paces, which I’m happy about. I didn’t think I would be *that fast* on Tuesday’s workout, but I felt pretty good.
Posts from the week:
July Training Log: Many states, much fun
So if you want to join me in any San Francisco race series, use the code Fueledbylolz and get 15% off. As always, you can follow me on Strava too.
Questions for you:
Do you like hilly races?
What is your next goal race?