Last night I finally decided to put pen to paper (actually keyboard to Excel spreadsheet) and hammer out a racing schedule for the summer and early fall. I kept going back and forth about when to run my first comeback race. After talking it over with my coach, we decided on a preliminary schedule that looks like this:
- July 4th weekend – 5k or 10k (rust buster, motivation for May and June)
- July 28-29 – 10k (“training through” type race to assess progress and fitness)
- August 12th – Falmouth Road Race (training run)
- August 18-19 – 5k (work on speed a little)
- Sept 1-2 – 10k race (final tune-up)
- Sept 22 – ZOOMA Cape Cod Half Marathon (goal race)
One of the reasons I love having Coach Jeff is that he can help me with this type of dilemma. While I am sure I could put together a race schedule, I don’t know that it would be the smartest one—i.e. I would probably sign up for a ton of races!
I already found a race for July 5, the Cotuit Firecracker 5k. This race will be my “rust buster.” Hopefully all of the rust is busted off by then! One of the hard things about planning a comeback race is that you don’t want to just show up and run. You want to run it well. I freely admit that I will be very nervous when I toe the line for that first 5k.
I am sure there will be a million questions running through my head. What if I don’t finish? Will I be able to keep the pace I want? What if I am too slow? In the end, I know I need to take a page from Nike’s old playbook and just do it! I think like a lot of things in life, the first time can be the most difficult.
I am having a bit of a harder time finding a couple of 10ks. I feel like there just aren’t as many any more. Everything is either a 5k or a half marathon! If you know of any 10ks that would fit into the above schedule (and are in RI/MA/CT, please let me know. I will be forever grateful. I can only scroll through the Cool Running listings so many times! 
Also, if you happen to be looking for a fun 5k to run in early June on the Cape, a family friend has organized the Falmouth Flag Day 5k to benefit the Falmouth Education Foundation. This will be the second year for the race, and it will be held on June 10 at 10:00 a.m. If you would like more information, visit their web site HERE. The beautiful course runs right along the beach in Falmouth Heights.
I’ve still not done a 10K, we just don’t have many around here. There are 5ks right and left.
I have trouble finding 10k’s for races in the area too. For these fitness assessments I have a 10k loop (finishes about 100 yards from start) I run by myself as a time trial. Not perfect but if that is all that is there. If you know someone faster than you, you could have them pace you to make it easier.
remember: 1) you will have no problems finishing 2)pick a reasonable pace for the first race – you can always pick it up in the second half if you started to conservative 3) there IS no too slow
And my birthday is on Flag Day!!!!!!
I love your words of wisdom–so true and thanks for the offer to support my Falmouth Road Race fundraising. I will post the link here as soon as it is up and running on Firstgiving. 🙂
I use Active.com this to find races by length and state.
http://www.active.com/directory/Running/10K/MA/
Oooh, thanks I forgot about that one! 🙂
I love piecing together race schedules! I’m so excited for you that you’re finally at a point where you can think in terms of races. You’ve been so patient and smart– I’m so impressed!
Looks like a great schedule. Mapping out my races for the season is one of my favorite pasttimes : ) You’re right about 10Ks – not very many of them around. With all the races I’ve done, I still have never run one!
Okay, that’s it! We are both on a mission to find one AND run one! 😉
Hey the RnR half is August 19th! I thought you were contemplating that? 😉