Bucket list races

This is the bucket list of races that I've built up so far.

• Bay to Breakers-Running with not just California crazies but the creme of the crop from SF. 
• Mt Hood to Coast-a downhill course. Party on the coast, totally the way to go. 
• Reno Tahoe Relay-Amazing views. Couple it with a vacation. 
• New York Marathon - Marathon Major
• Big Sur Marathon-The race is supposed to be hilly but the views are supposed to be amazing. 
• Escape from Alcatraz-this is a tri that's pretty unique. You start off in the Bay and do a swim-run bike run
• London Marathon Marathon Major
• Tokyo Marathon- Marathon Major. Couple it with a vacation. 
• Bolder Boulder-Heard great things from a friend that worked at the race
• Pune Marathon-Just to say I ran a marathon in India. Would be afraid of being run over or drinking in water, or stepping in cow shit. 
• Athens Marathon-The Original. Enuf said. 
• Steamboat Classic 15k-Hilly and typically humid race in Peoria, IL. 

Race calendar (thus far)

• Shamrock Shuffle
• 4 on the 4th
• Park Ridge Charity Classic 5k
• Chicagoland Spring Half Marathon
• Egg Shell Shuffle Half Marathon
• Soldier Field 10 miler
• Cinco de miler
• Ravenswood Run 5k
• Roselle Run for the Roses

here are my planned races for 2014. I may add a few here and there. 

Shoe review: Saucony Fastwitch4

I was debating between buying Saucony's Fastwitch4's or their lighter A3 shoes. The store I tried them on at didn't carry the A3, so I wouldn't be able to try them on before ordering, but they had the Fastwitch4's. The one thing that concerns me especially with racing flats is the width of my feet. I don't wear wides, but I'm almost right on the border. So sizing would have been tricky. When I tried them on and got on the treadmill at the store, the fit was awesome, they had a decent amount of support and were light.

It's okay to fail

I admit it I'm a perfectionist and I over commit myself. This leads to all kinds of stress. So once in a while I end up dropping the ball. And while that can be frustrating and sometimes embarrassing but fear not, by removing the fear of failure we are free to do as well or as poorly as we would like.

I recently ran a half marathon during a rather busy week at work and in my personal life. I hadn't run in about a week and a half. So I was unsure how I would actually do. There is the chance that I would have run really really well and run a PR or run really poorly. Unfortunately I ran much worse than I would have liked. But hey, I finished without injuring myself.

But I got to thinking about why I didn't meet my own expectations and why that bothered me so much.

1. Not every effort can be your best. There is a prioritization of time and energy that needs to be applied and your end result will reflect that.
2. Preparation+preparation makes a big difference. In this case, I was going through bad dehydration and I went out (for the first 5 miles) at a pace that was about 20 to 30 seconds faster than I should have.
   
3. It really doesn't matter as long as you learn from any mistakes or have some sort of improvement opportunity. In fact, that makes it worth it.
   

Garmin 405-Product Review

I admit I'm a little late on getting a GPS/HR monitor to help in my training, but I didn't want to buy one and have it sit around like so many other things I have bought.

Price-$210 including $50 dollar rebate from Garmin during REI's Anniversary Sale.

Features

• Wireless transfer to PC via USB dongle (RF signal)
• Lithium Ion battery that has 8 hours of life in training mode and 2 weeks in power save mode.
• GPS
• HR monitor
  

Use of use

• I only really needed to use to Quick Start guide to get it working with my computer/charged.
  
• The user interface is pretty straight forward. Setting it up for auto pause (so the timer stops while I'm waiting at a traffic light) or auto lap.

Comfort

• This watch is much smaller than it's predecessor which definately stood out. This looks and feels like a normal watch.
• The chest strap took some getting used to, probably because I didn't use a heart rate monitor regularly in my training.

Things I'd change

• Auto turn off for receivers on GPS/HR monitor- I left it on a couple of days and drained the battery.

Minor annoyances

• Sometimes it's hard to use the touch bezel with sweaty hands.
  

Running goals

I am a pretty avid runner. During my peak running I run probably 50 miles a week. I really got into running last year after I graduated from college and discovered that I really needed a way to stay fit because I have a desk job. It's turned into an obsession for me. If I skip a run, I feel like crap just like most avid runners.

Here are some goals I came up with for the year with the races I'm planning on running at this point:

• Shamrock Shuffle (8k)-40:00 minutes.
  
• Illinois Marathon(Half Marathon) - I'd like to PR with a 1:50
• Chicago Half Marathon -1:45
  
• Oakbrook Half Marathon -1:40 (last year 1:55)
  
• either Milwaukee or Chicago 4:15 (last year 5:05)

To accomplish my goals, I am following the Higdon Intermediate I plan (link). The Higdon plans are the 'go to' plans for many marathon runners. I'm also going to be doing yoga once a week. Runner's World talks about the health benefits and the cross-training benefits for runners all the time (link). I'm going to be doing speed work once a week.They're tough but they're very helpful in getting better as a runner. I'll be doing two work outs on Monday (running at work 5mi and the Dick Pond fun run 5 mi) and two work outs on Wednesday (yoga at work and speedwork). Needless to say my Tuesday and Thursday runs will be light ones.

Things that I'm worried about

• Shin splints-they flaired up last year and I had a scare earlier this year when running outside.
• IT band issues-My IT bands are ridiculously tight so I'm hoping yoga can help me out with that.
• Ultimate frisbee-I started playing ultimate again on Sundays, so I'm hoping I don't hurt myself like so many of my friends have done before.