I've now been in Southern California for nearly a year. In that year, I've focused on road running as I ran three marathon, pretty much back to back blocks with little rest in between. I could continue with that trend and race California International Marathon, arguably the deepest marathon in North America, but I struggled to stay motivated training for San Francisco. This is likely due to near-constant marathon training. Having yet to really get after exploring trails and only having 3.5 more months left in my schooling, I'll focus on the trails this fall. I haven't raced on the trails since last Summer and while road racing is more my strength, the trails are a bit more enjoyable and relaxed to me. This will give me the opportunity to race on some fun trails both in California and surrounding Western states and a few high profile trail events, with some more low key ones as well.
I still have two road races in the mix, largely due to wanting to run certain events. Although the road races will mix things up rather than just trail stuff. I was considering the Seattle half marathon, but opted against due to a very loaded race calendar already and the added expenses of that. My primary motivation was really just to race in Seattle, one of my favorite cities but I'll have to wait to do so in a future. I was also considering a return trip to Honolulu and racing the Mile (Saturday)-10K (double) in a fun tropical island setting, but against decided against given expenses and already doing so many races. I would like to tackle a road race double like that one day.
Right now, I've been running mostly easy the past weeks while also doing a 10K race in Ireland and a handful of technical mountain runs. This should give me enough of a base to do some lighter road workouts and hilly mountain runs back in California, but I probably won't train hard until October and won't have any focus races until November. Largely this season will just be having fun while maintaining enough running and fitness to be ready for Boston in the spring.
September
September 8- Santa Monica Classic 10K: Santa Monica, CA
September 15- Headlands 27K: Mill Valley, CA
September 21- Three Sisters Skyline Half Marathon: Sisters, OR
Santa Monica will be an appropriate "return" (excluding run the ridge, which was more just for fun) to racing with a road 10K. Originally I wanted to go for a PR here given mine isn't super strong but I think I'd need some higher weeks and tempos to go for that. Hopefully I can still run sub-34 and be somewhat competitive.
Headlands 27K won't be a goal race as I don't think I have enough training to do really well here and it's a very difficult course with about 4,500' of elevation gain. This was a no brainer to do given I had yet to race in the Marin Headlands and it's part of the golden trail world series this year, meaning the competition will be world-class.
Three sisters skyline is certainly just a fun event to get to race in Oregon. Unlike headlands, the course is fairly easy with only 400' of elevation gain and a big net downhill. I'll probably be beat up with only a 6 day turnaround and a good amount of driving.
October
October 6- Portland Half Marathon: Portland, OR
October 12- UTMB Kodiak 21K: Big Bear Lake, CA
October 26- Point Mugu Trail Half: Malibu, CA
Right now, I'm not really looking forward to a road half in the middle of trail season but I really wanted to opportunity to race in Portland as I've never visited the city before. Looking for more of a goal marathon effort in the 1:13-1:16 range rather than hitting something fast.
I should be in good shape by this point and couldn't turn the opportunity to race the UTMB event in socal, Kodiak at big bear lake. I probably won't be looking for a huge effort here as this will be my first ever race at Altitude. Hopefully I can get a few higher altitude mountain runs in for prep, but my lack of experience at altitude means I won't be hammering this one.
Point Mugu was another must-do given the proximity to Thousand Oaks and frequent runs in the State Park. Planning on focusing on this one and trying to place as high as possible. This will be the first of three half marathon+ trail races in a row, so I don't want to leave myself trashed either.
November
November 2- Moab Trail Half Marathon: Moab, UT
November 9- Pass Mountain 25K: Mesa, AZ
November 23- Golden Gate Spartan Trail 50K: San Francisco, CA
This month will see a lot of traveling and some goal races. I hope to run well at Moab, it's one of the top trail events in the country and often hosts a USATF national championship, which the half marathon is this year. Pass Mountain was another "race in a new state" opportunity so why not. Golden Gate will be the focus race for the fall and my second ultra. Unlike a very technical course at Quebec, this is quite runnable and should be a different kind of challenge.
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