Planning Ahead

I have been running competitively, off and on, since I was around 12 years old.  One thing I have never done, however, is really sit down, at the beginning of the year, and plan out my racing schedule.  previously, I have just done whatever sounded fun at the time, with no real coherent strategy.

Granted, I am not aiming to win any  of these races--there is little chance of that.  I do think, though, that if I form a plan, I will have more motivation to keep pushing through those harder workouts, days I want to go back to bed, or when I eye that bag of Doritios in the pantry.

I also have an eye towards a couple new, more challening events, that I am sure I could not accomplish without a more long-range view.  The first of these is the Spartan Beast, a 10-12 mile obstacle race held in November.  The other is the Harbison 50k trail run, held in January 2014.  Both events are either longer, or much more difficult, than anything I have ever tried before, so I think a year-long plan would be beneficial.

so, here is what I am thinking about for the coming year:

February:  Make my Day 12k trail run
April:  Palmetto 70 mile Relay
May:  New Heights 5k Trail run
June: Warrior Dash Carolinas 5k
July: XTerra 21k Trail Run
August: Table Rock 15k Trail run
September: Irmo Dam run 10k
November: Spartan BeastCarolinas
December: Rudolph's Rampage Trail Half Marathon
January: Harbison 50k

I would love to hear what anyone else if planning to do, or any new or interesting events.  If you want to join in any of these I plan to do, let me know--the more, the merrier!