Right after my spring marathon I had grand plans for my summer and fall racing, but thanks to a slight set back with popliteal tendonitis that has persisted for several months now, I've had to scale back those plans quite a bit. I am now four weeks in to my conservative physical therapy recovery plan, and my tendonitis has subsided. I've been careful and followed most instructions and am feeling, that at the six week point I'll be ready for my first fall race: Reach the Beach.

Reach the Beach on September 12th and 14th is a 200 mile, 24 hour relay that starts at Cannon Mountain in New Hampshire and finishes at Hampton Beach. It's a great race that I've always wanted to participate in, but never really had the chance until this year when I was invited by someone in my running club to be on a four person ultra team. Originally I was scheduled to run 50+ miles in the 24 hour period. In the spring I was excited at the prospect of running a pseudo-ultra. In 2014 I've been the fittest I've ever been, and with a solid base from the marathon (peaking at 70 miles/week) I thought that training to run on the ultra RTB would be a great next step.

Apparently my body had other plans and so did the bodies of other teammates so we made adjustments, brought on two more runners and became a six person team. The week before the 603 Endurance 10K I was excited to be taking on the longest leg of the six at 40 miles, I thought I had enough time to be ready. Then the week after the race it became apparent not only was I NOT ready to run 40 miles in 24hours, but I might not be able to run Reach the Beach AT ALL. But I've been bumped to the lowest mileage slot at 27 miles and will run no more than 6 miles at a time. I'm feeling confident that in two weeks I'll be ready to run and that I should have minimal issues from my calf.

CHaD HERO Half Marathon October 26th. This race is near and dear to my heart. It is the primary fundraising event for the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth Hitchcock, where my son Jack had surgery last year to correct a congenital birth defect. I ran it for the first time last year in honor of my son Jack, and though I didn't reach my goals it was a culmination of a very difficult year and an incredibly special race.

I'm looking forward to running this year. This summer I was toying with the thought that I could shoot for a sub 1:30 marathon. I'm at about 1:33 fitness (or I was) a couple weeks ago, but since the 10K I think I've been rapidly loosing that endurance that I'd gained during my spring marathon training. I don't think I'm in shape to shoot for a sub 1:30 anymore. And I'm not sure that I could get to that point in the next ten weeks.

Last year I went in to the race with such specific time goals that this year I think I'd like to go into it with a more relaxed attitude and really no specific time goals. I always race better that way anyway.

So I've shifted my focus to my fundraising instead. My goal has been to raise $10,000. I'm about a third of the way there with $3525. I know that every penny makes a difference. We felt that difference when we were there and I know that in raising money I'm helping another family feel supported and cared for. If you'd like to help please click HERE. And if you'd like to join TEAM NUUN and run the half marathon or 5K with us, you can join HERE. We also have some fundraising event in the works, so stay tuned for details on those!

As for other smaller races, I've had my eye on a few. But it really depends on how Reach the Beach goes and how I'm feeling after that. I want to race more, but I'm kind of at the point where I don't think it's worth pushing my body. I'm trying to keep long term goals in mind.

I had also wanted to run a late fall marathon, I though a November marathon after CHaD Hero would be a good idea. But I'm at the pint now where a late fall marathon is out of the question. When I run another marathon again I want to be able to devote the same time and effort that I did in my spring training cycle. I don't want a sufferfest, like so many of my marathons have been.

So I'm still racing, it's just that my plans are more scaled back...which is probably better anyway.

Have your run a relay? What are your fall racing plans?

Sarah

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