Thinking about my 2013 race schedule...

When I'm bored, I think about and research races. I do this A LOT. Which is one reason why I wind up  running a fair number of them.

Of course, marathon training is a VERY good excuse to sign up for races, as well. While I know the benefits of doing long runs without being in a race (and please don't misinterpret: I cherish those long runs and the time they give me for contemplation, catching up on podcasts, and proving to myself that I'm tough), it's fun to throw a few races in your schedule as well.

So, at the moment, I'm contemplating/signed up for:

No, I never get tired of this photo.

1. Disney Princess Half Marathon (Feb. 24/Week 8): Yup, registered for this one back in July. I'm so excited to return to the scene of my first half marathon with my best friend in the entire world. It remains to be seen whether we're racing this one, whether we're doing it purely for fun, or whether she'll be sacrificing and pacing me to a new PR. Lots of factors affect our plans & weather is a HUGE concern.

2. Lake Sammamish River Half Marathon (Mar. 9/Week 10): My running club is doing this. It's flat (FLAT!!!). But, it's only two weeks after Princess and I've got an 18 miler on the schedule. Frankly, if we're taking it easy at Princess, I want to run this one as my serious practice half. If we're running Princess hard, I don't particularly want to do it. The problem is that it sells out, so I feel like I should try to make a decision reasonably soon.

3. Birch Bay 30k (April 5/Week 14): I did this one last year and, once again, it's scheduled for the same day as my last long run before taper. It's a beautiful course, a well-organized race, and it's nice to be able to do your last long run with other people (admittedly, not very many of them) after so many months of solo runs. In fact, all those emotions I thought I'd have when I finished my first marathon - I actually had them at Birch Bay, because I knew that I'd done my training, stuck to my schedule the way I wanted to, and that I would be fine on race day. Yup. Cried quite a bit. Anyway, I definitely want to go back.

4. Something else?!? All or only some of the above???

TAPER TIME!!! (BB finish line last year)