Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Taking Advantage

Two environmental circumstances have aligned for my benefit so far this month. After a brutal first couple days of January, the weather has delivered unseasonably warm temperatures and clear skies. Couple that with a noticeable increase in evening daylight, and you begin to see why I've found early success with my running this year.

During this usually foul-weathered time of year, you have to take advantage of every opportunity to get outside in Northeast Ohio. You never know when a snow storm will fly across Lake Erie to deliver the next winter of discontent.

My race schedule remains sparse, with only the Buckeye Half and Akron Marathon on my list for 2012, but I've started to investigate other options. I haven't run a new race since 2009, when I ran the Shamrock 15-kilometer event.

Lately, I've been itching to run a trail race, and the new Dirty Trail Series looks like a good possibility to get some offroad competition experience. The March 24 Dirty Dash looks like a prime opportunity for me to race a distance I love and feel is neglected. The $25 entry fee also seems right for this bargain basement runner.

By the race date, I'll be up to eight miles on my long runs with about 17 miles per week, which isn't optimal for a 10-kilometer race, but it'll be nice to get out there and run hard. I'll need to register by Feb. 29 to get the early-bird special. We'll see how it goes.

4 comments:

Jess said...

I too feel like the 10K is a neglected road race. I think the HM blew up in popularity the past 10 years, so races that used to be 10ks transformed themselves into HMs. Too bad. I like a good 10k!

Have fun with the Ohio winter running!

Nitmos said...

This has been nice. I normally avoid back to back days running but, with this weather, I'm breaking tradition.

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately, what is unseasonable warm (and welcome) for you, sucks for me. Send some winter my way!

Carolina John said...

Run the 10k brother. It's good for the soul. Commune with nature and all that.