Now that I'm back on the road and hopefully the injuries and illness of the past few years are behind me, I'm starting to think about an actual race schedule that may include...a marathon. 

This may be completely crazy of me, but I wouldn't run said marathon until 2019. And I won't make a decision on it until I see how base building for my half marathon fall training cycle goes, so that's August(ish). 

The loose plan (because we all know what happens with plans around here)

1. Train for a goal half marathon in December (Wilmington Historic Half)
2. Monitor my training to determine when a marathon will fit (i.e., do I run the half as part of training and run the marathon sooner, or do I run the half and then roll into marathon training after that?)
3. Possibly run either a February or March marathon

Any later than March and it's just going to be too hot here in the South to attempt a marathon. I'd really prefer February, but we'll see how training goes.

Based on that, here's how my race schedule will shake out:

• Run a bunch of 5Ks, a few 10Ks, and a test half marathon on my way to the goal half marathon
• Goal race: Wilmington Historic Half Marathon - December 2, 2018
• Marathon possibilities: Run Oak Island (Feb), Myrtle Beach Marathon (March), Palmetto Bluff Marathon (March)

Fall 2018 race schedule

While I'm only registered for the two December half marathons at this point, I'm really feeling like I need a test half marathon before the goal one.

It's been so long since I've raced a half (and not slogged it or paced someone else) that I feel like I need to remember how to race one, even if it's a training race and not an all-out goal race.

The timing of the Myrtle Beach Mini seems perfect for that. Plus there's a 5K and 1-mile dog dash the day before. It would be fun to do those, too (including the 1 miler with Macy Dog). That race is my current PR and the course is a pretty decent course. I doubt I'll PR on it this year, but at least it's familiar.

This is how it looks like my fall race schedule will shake out based on that goal half marathon:

• September 3 - LABOR DAY 5K
• September tbd - TURTLE TREK 5K (beach race) 
• September 15 - BOHICKET MARINA 10K
• October 6 - ISLE OF PALMS CONNECTOR 5K
• October 20 - COASTAL 5K and 1-MILE DOGGIE DASH
• October 21 - MYRTLE BEACH MINI (HALF) MARATHON (test race)
• November 10 - SUMMERVILLE SWEET TEA 10K
• December 2 - WILMINGTON HISTORIC HALF MARATHON (goal race)
• December 8 - KIAWAH ISLAND HALF MARATHON (pacing a friend)

So all of that means, the rest of my year breaks into the following training chunks:

• May through July - continue to base build and run some races just for the fun of it - no goals (because hot, humid, summer, Charleston) - and to remember what racing feels like
• August - Begin ramping up training for the Myrtle Beach distance as my test race
• October - December - Train for goal race and if I'm doing a marathon in February calculate that into my fall training

I have to say, it feels awesome to be planning races again and possibly thinking about PRs. I don't think any PRs will happen until close to the end of the year, but in the meantime, I'll get in plenty of practice. And at this point, I'm not sure what specific time goal I'll set for PRs - they could be big, since I've been sick for so long, or they could be small because that's just the way it rolls sometimes. In any case, I'm glad to be back!

Have you started planning any fall races yet?