I’m not a big fan of New Year’s resolutions, but I do use the turning of the calendar page to look ahead for 12 months and sketch out some fitness goals and priorities. I always feel a little antsy if I don’t have anything on the horizon; the structure of a training plan and the sweet march of the journey towards an event add soul to my life. Here are the races I’m gunning for (so far, hopefully more to come):
April: Salmon Run trail half marathon
July: birthday self-supported trail 50K
August: Haulin’ Aspen trail marathon
October: Chicago Marathon (reschedule from 2020)
I’ll be following Krissy Moehl’s 50K training plan for the August trail marathon (26 vs 31 miles is basically apples to apples when you’re talking trail events). 24 weeks long, I start in mid-February, and the mileage/intensity build-up is gentle enough that it will be compatible with skiing at least 2 days most weeks and continuing to crush the strength work.
Although I’ve run several 50K and marathon events, I am essentially starting over due to the “hip blip” of 2020 (it’s all about the marketing, and “hip blip” sounds kind of minor, maybe a little fun, and not nearly as scary as “injury”). The next several weeks before the plan starts will entail mostly easy trail and road runs with weekly mileage around 15-30 miles.
