Monday, September 03, 2007

Oh! The Places I Could Go

The heat wave forced me inside most of the weekend so I spent some time cleaning up my pile on the desk. In addition I received a phone call from my bro-in-law that prompted me thinking about future race plans.

First I found note about some races I wanted to run next year. My initial intent was to finally run some of the California races I've put off in favor of the state goal.

Apr 27 - Big Sur Marathon
I of course checked each of the sites today and was freaked to find that there are only 9 spaces left for Jessica's little 50K romp through the mountains. I better get on it soon. Earlier this evening I received this email from the Cruisers:
Everyone,

Big Sur has multiple races on Sunday, April 27, 2008.
They have a marathon (6 hour drop-dead time limit), 21 mile, 10.6 mile, 9 mile, and 5 K race on that day. And they also have a marathon relay.

Monterey is about 6 hours driving time and 360 miles from here. You can get more information from this web site.

http://www.bsim.org/registration.htm

Please email us with your interest in this event. The 21 miler will probably fill in a few weeks.
Is there any other suggestion you have as to what event 10 to 20 of us can do together in 2008?

Dorothy and John

Sign me up!

My brother-in-law just spent a week with his Dad in Pennsylvania. Dad is convinced that we are coming to PA in Nov 11 to run the Harrisburg Marathon. Unfortunately my wife can't get away from work then and I really would rather she go with me. We've told her Dad we will be there someday but probably not 2007. He uses all the tricks he can to get us to come for a visit.

In addition, the BIL is moving his family to Houston and has invited us over whenever I'm ready to run TX. The Houston Marathon is January 13, 2008. It fits into the schedule nicely. I confirmed with Eric that Houston is a "concrete jungle"; not my favorite running surface but it will be hard to pass up the free lodging someday.

Not done yet. During the desk cleaning I came across a left over ticket on Southwest that needs to be used before Dec 1. I checked the calendar at Marathonguide.com so see if there was any thing I could sneak in between Marine Corps (Oct) and Rocket City (Dec).

I found a couple of races that look interesting:

Nov 18 - The X-Country Marathon, near Tampa, FL
Nov 17 - The Louisiana Trails Marathon, Shreveport, LA
Southwest flies to Tampa but not to Shreveport.
If I was a Marathon Maniac worth my stuff I would do all these races, one a month for six months. All that still only gets me to the next level, 2 Stars - Silver. This could be fun.

15 comments:

Joe said...

Isn't the planning fun??? I love it!! I'm already penciling in some 2008 targets too. I have seriously thought about Houston, just to have something to break up the mid-winter blahs. A copule of ultras, as well, eh?? Very cool. Shhhhhh...don't tell anyone...I have potentially 2 ultrss on for 2008 too.

Great stuff. Hope your hip holds up. The SoCal heat wave sounds bad...must have baked a lot of NASCAR fans this weekend :-)

Wes said...

LOL. I get busy a few days and you start laying out the posts :-) Thanks!!!

Surely the number of miles you are running is having some affect on your body and your times. Might be a good idea to think of this year as a "recovery" year.

I'm not sure what to say about finding another marathon to do so you can use a plane ticket, LOL. That's starting to get a bit intense for me, but if anybody can pull it off, you certainly can!

Jessica DeLine said...

Yay for Twin Peaks! Actually there are only 7 spots left since I didn't update it over the weekend. You can always run the 50 mile race ;)

Looks like you have some good races on your agenda.

Donald said...

I'm assuming you know where I stand on the topic of Big Sur ...

The other "races" aren't officially competitive (i.e. no awards) - they were created to steer some of the slower walkers (who would take longer than 6 hrs to do the marathon) into other events to enjoy the day as well.
The walks sell out very quickly, but the marathon should be open into January or February.

Let me know if you're coming up here - we definitely have to meet.

runliarun said...

Oh, all those races, all those states... So did you decide which one you will do in New Mexico? The one I just ran was cool enough - it partially traces the outline of the city, more or less, without being too urban. But Shiprock is truly magical.

Anonymous said...

I'm assuming that if you go to Big Sur you'll do the full marathon, right?

I SO want to do that race.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you are going to be a very busy guy for the next few months!!! Better start signing up for these things before I decide I want you home...lol... :)

Hurry up and use that plane ticket before it expires!

Tyler said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Backofpack said...

Darrell,
On the Big Sur site, check the "confirmations". Look up Barnes. You'll see Eric and I both registered! YAY!! Rumor has it Rob might make it, and Jenny is thinking about it. Sounding like an awfully good time...

Anne said...

I envy you. Just being able to pick and choose big races seems like such a luxury for we injured ones right now. That said, I hope to see you at Twin Peaks, this time to put a medal around your neck!

Sarah said...

I missed out getting my 2 stars when I didn't run Mt Hood PCT 50. But if I run the rest of my 2007 schedule I should do it!

I say go for as many races as you think your body...and budget...and marriage...can handle! : ) And of course, if you ask me, you MUST do the 50k.

Anonymous said...

So many choices...... I guess most of you plan farther out than I do. Probably not a bad idea. :) Good luck. Looking forward to seeing what the future races will be.

Mike said...

Ditto Donald's vote for Big Sur...you probably won't find a more beautiful venue!

Too many choices though eh? I'm sure you'll land on the right one!

Also hope that darn hip of yours stops troubling you...solid mileage there in spite of the injury!

Scott McMurtrey said...

as new as i am to running i haven't heard of many races, but i have heard of big sure. do it. (and all the others too...)

;)

Rae said...

Planning is always so fun! I've always wanted to do Big Sur, it seems like such a beautiful race. You need to do one a month and knock those 50 states out!