Thinking ahead

With this coming Sunday`s Ted Corbit 15K, my racing this year will come to an end. After Philadelphia I was eager to come back to competition. Though my fitness has suffered, I am happy that I have bounced back to running and racing quicker than previous marathons. I am also already thinking ahead and filling up my 2010 racing calendar.

I will probably start my racing season with the Manhattan Half in late January. Despite being the middle of winter, I might as well get myself used to running in frigid weather if I am to get in good shape for further races later on in the year. I really dislike cold weather and though I did ran a 14 miler in yesterday`s 30F weather, I never felt comfortable; it was just bearable.

The good thing about running a sub-2:55 marathon is that I have guaranteed entries for both the NYC Half in March and NYC Marathon in November. Not being dependent on the lottery gives me the ability to plan ahead and have to find alternatives plans in case my entry number is not drawn.

The focus for the spring, however, will be the Boston Marathon. Last time I ran there, it left a bad taste in my mouth. This time around I plan to train for it properly and run smartly. I do not want to make the same mistakes of running the first part too quickly, only to hit the wall at the hills and walk for 3 miles. I want to run all the way through and have fun in the process.

I am also toying with the idea of running a small marathon in Lake Placid in mid-June. The route promises to be scenic and it will be good opportunity to see how my running is going before the summer and my preparation for Berlin in late September. This will probably the centerpiece of my racing next year. The course is flat and is known to be conducive for world records. So if I am to improve my marathon time, this should be the one I am focusing on. Besides it will give me an opportunity to come back to such a great town and it will be the third of the marathon majors that I will have run (I will leave London and Chicago for 2011).

Then there is NYC in November of course. I hope that Selma gets in through the lottery. I promised her that I would run it with her. It will be her first marathon and the city is at its best. It is such a pleasure to see the crowds, especially for two New Yorkers like us.