In the Works for 2011

Last June I did my first triathlon.  It was a sprint distance tri and I had a lot of fun, even though I was pretty slow.  Unfortunately, I was dealing with my first IT band injury last spring so I was only able to start running again a couple of weeks before the race, but it did get me swimming and biking since I couldn’t run.  Plus, my race was in June and I was in school until the end of May, which meant I had very limited training time.  I finished, but I’d like to get faster.  Who doesn’t, I suppose?

While I enjoy working out (most of the time), I like to have goals to help keep me on track and committed.  Last year, I signed up for the June sprint triathlon and a half marathon in September.  While I wasn’t able to run the half marathon due to an IT band injury I sustained as I started my taper (weird, right?), I ran, biked, swam, and lifted weights all summer long and really increased my fitness.  I wasn’t in school, so I had more free time, but having goals also kept me from sloughing off workouts when maybe the weather wasn’t perfect or I just wanted to hang out on the couch.

With motivation in mind, I’ve been thinking about the races I want to do next year.  There are four triathlons I’d like to do, but I’d also like to do a marathon next year, too.  I’m thinking of doing an Ironman distance triathlon in a few years, so my trainer suggested I do a marathon beforehand, because running your first marathon as part of an Ironman is probably not the best way to go.

The triathlons I’m planning on “racing” in are all local – as in, where I live or within a couple of hours’ drive.  I’m planning to do:

• Moe’s triathlon – shorter-than-sprint distance in late May/early June
• Spin Off Spadina at Pike Lake – sprint distance in late June
• the Regina Beach Triathlon – will probably do olympic distance, in late July
• Frank Dunn Triathlon – longer than olympic distance (1.5k Swim, 62k Bike, 13k Run) in mid- to late August

My trainer suggested I run my marathon in either September or October.  I’m thinking maybe September, so that I’m tapering once my school year starts in late August, but I’m not sure which race I want to do or even how to narrow down the list in an efficient way! I could do the Queen City Marathon here in Saskatchewan on September 11th, or I could travel a little farther.  My trainer sent me a link for a list of North American marathons.  The list of September 2011 marathons is here, while the list of October 2011 races is here. The Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon runs October 16th and the Goodlife Fitness Victoria Marathon on October 9th (pretty sure that’s the Thanksgiving long weekend here in Canada).

I also came across this list of iPod-friendly marathons on the Runner’s World website.  The Des Moines Marathon is on October 16th, while the Portland Marathon is on October 9th, but those might involve more flight connections than I want.

I think it’ll take some pondering before I decide, so if you have any suggestions or recommendations, feel free to share!