The “Final” Schedule: Racing 2010

Several folks were kind enough to provide me with some quality feedback about my draft race schedule for 2010. Believe it or not, I considered every single piece of feedback. I ended up letting several principles shape my “final” 2010 schedule.

1. Don’t overdo it. That factored into the draft schedule, and your comments told me that I didn’t do a sufficiently good job of keeping my schedule realistic, so I trimmed a few races from the schedule.
2. Have fun. Some of the races I picked are there solely so I can hang with friends.
3. Run at least 7 races in the Kalamazoo Area Runners Club Championship Series. I’m a member of the local club, and I need to defend my third-place finish in the 2009 KAR series, so I made sure to include them. If I lived closer to Alabama (or if I had an unlimited budget so I could fly back and forth), I would try to fulfill requirements for both the KAR series and the Anniston Runners Club Grand Prix. Of course, that would probably end up wrecking my adherence to the first principle.
4. Spread out the long races. I’m more than happy to run multiple long races each year, but I need to do a better job of spreading them throughout my schedule than I did last year. Someday in the future, maybe I’ll once again race the Borgess Run for the Health of It half marathon and the Fifth/Third River Bank Run 25k within two weeks of each other.
5. Reduce travel. Travel is expensive, so I opted to cut back on it just a bit. The schedule currently includes five races that would likely require a hotel stay (or a really early start in the morning, which never appeals to me), down from seven in 2009.
6. Do some new races. There are some races that I really liked in 2009 that don’t appear on my 2010 schedule. As much as I like those races and wouldn’t mind doing them again, I also want to visit some new places, too.

Does that all make sense? I didn’t think so. Is it way too complicated for the race calendar of a below-average runner? You know it. For what it’s worth, the folk(s) who use Twitter for the Dallas Running Club gave me credit for being organized.

Dear Dallas Running Club social media guru,

Thank you. I needed that.

Sincerely,

Darrell

Without further delay, and with gratitude to all of you who provided input, here is my 2010 race schedule.

1. March 27 – Kal-Haven Trail Run 33.5-Mile, 6-Person Relay (Kalamazoo, MI)
2. April 24 – Borgess Run for the Health of It Half Marathon (Kalamazoo, MI) *
3. May 1 – Triple Creek Dash 10k (Three Rivers, MI)
4. May 15 – Oaklawn Hospitality Classic 10k (Marshall, MI) *
5. May 15 – Oaklawn Hospitality Classic 5k (Marshall, MI) *
6. June 5 – Sunburst Half Marathon (South Bend, IN)
7. June 19 – Kalamazoo Klassic 10k (Kalamazoo, MI) *
8. June 19 – Kalamazoo Klassic 5k (Kalamazoo, MI) *
9. July 3 – Schoolcraft Firecracker 5-Miler (Schoolcraft, MI) *
10. August 7 – Mint City 10-Miler (St. Johns, MI)
11. September 4 – Beaver Island Half Marathon (Beaver Island, MI)
12. September 18 – Peacock Strut 10k (Portage, MI) *
13. September 18 – Peacock Strut 5k (Portage, MI) *
14. October 17 – Grand Rapids Half Marathon (Grand Rapids, MI)
15. October 23 – Mackinac Island Great Turtle 5.7-Mile Run (Mackinac Island, MI)
16. November 13 – Road Hawg Classic 10k (Battle Creek, MI)
17. December 4 – Chief Ladiga Half Marathon (Jacksonville, AL) #
18. December 11 – Dashing through the Springs 5k (Talladega, AL)
19. December 18 – Frozen Feet 5k (Pell City, AL)

* KAR Club Championship Series event

# ARC Grand Prix event

There is a little bit of flexibility in the schedule, primarily the week of August 7. If I end up traveling to Alabama, I’ll replace the Mint City 10-Miler with the Woodstock 5k. If the Run through Hell happens in 2010, I will consider racing it in lieu of the Mint City 10-Miler; however, the Run through Hell was canceled in 2009, so I’m not sure if it will happen this year. Also, at the end of the schedule, the races I run will depend upon travel dates.

After getting out to run on the last day of 2009 (after a 39-day layoff), I’m eager to get into my training.