Tuesdays on the Run: 14 in 2014 and 2015 Race Schedule

Over half of my medal rack is medals from this year! 20 in total!

Another Tuesday on the Run hosted by: April from Run the Great Wide Somewhere, Erika from MCM Mama Runs, and Patty from No-Guilt Life. This week's topic is OPEN so I have decided to reflect on running 14 races in 2014 and preview of 2015. 

REFLECTIONS ON 14 RACES IN 2014
When I first heard about this challenge, I never thought I could do it. In the past, I had never run more than 2-4 races in a year, how would I get to 14?

Well I did the math and realized I was at 10 already and figured I could easily pick up 4 along the way. And that's exactly what I did!

The races I did were:

• 2014 Tinkerbell half
  
• 2014 Enchanted 10k
  
• 2014 Princess half
  
• 2014 LA marathon
  
• 2014 Agoura hills old 10k  (old PR-1:07:09)
• 2014 Girls on the Run 5k
• 2014 Culver City 10k (old PR -1:02:46)
• 2014 Disneyland 10k (Disney PR-1:29:45)
• 2014 Disneyland Half
• 2014 Dodger Foundation 5k (new PR-29:50)
• 2014 LA Rock n Roll Half Marathon (new PR-2:13:43)
• 2014 Wine and Dine Half Marathon 
• 2014 Inaugural Avengers Half  (new Disney PR- 2:43:38) 
• 2014 LA Turkey Trot (5k+ 10k) (old PR- :59:21)
• 2014 Santa Monica-Venice Christmas Run 10k (new PR- :58:21)

And I have definitely come a far way from where I started at the beginning of the year. If you would have told me that I would go sub 30 in the 5k and sub 1:00 in the 10k (TWICE!) and sub 2:15 in the half I would have thought you were crazy but here I am after doing exactly that! 

I have gotten smart about my training and have developed a clear cut fueling plan that seems to work for me. Next year, I plan on going more into the way I eat and how I have adapted Primal eating to work for me. 

I have also started incorporating more weight training and speedwork into my running with good success. speedwork has been hard to come by as I seem to always be in a taper/Carbloading cycle but I plan to work with it as much as I can in between races. I even incorporated tempo runs as a way to improve my pace. 

Plans for next year? I will go more depth in a second but I want to increase doing tempo runs and increase my speedwork and work on hills. I hate hills but they are a necessary evil and will help me get stronger. I need to buy a new running planner and I want to start plotting these out to keep me accountable. 

Now what will be i running next year? Well I will definitely do 15 races in 2015 and will complete that by May! 

Let's first look at the races I will definitely be running in 2015 (signed up already!):
2015 Dopey (5k, 10k, Half and Full) (Jan 7-11,2015)
2015 Rebel Challenge (10k and Half) (Jan 16-18, 2015)
2015 Frozen 5k and Glass Slipper Challenge (10k and half) (Feb 19-22, 2015)
2015 LA Marathon (March 15, 2015)
2015 Great Race 10k (March 28, 2015)
2015 Angels Foundation 5k (April 11, 2015)
2015 Pixie Challenge (10k and Half) (May 9-10, 2015)

Here are races I want to sign up for but haven't yet because registration hasn't opened:
2015 Santa Anita Derby 5k (April 4, 2015)
2015 Dumbo Double Dare (10k and Half) (Sept 4-6, 2015)
2015 Wine and Dine 5k and Half (Nov 6-7, 2015)
2015 Avengers half (Nov 13-15, 2015)--a challenge may be added! 
2015 LA Turkey Trot (Nov 26, 2015)
2015 Santa Monica-Venice Christmas Run (December 2015) 

As you may notice, the LA Rock n Roll is not listed on there and that is intentional. I am going to enter a few lotteries for a Fall Marathon! I figure with all of the races coming up, I will be very well trained and I am to the point in my running career where I would love to travel for a race. 

Here are the 3 options and what I plan to do:
1. NYC Marathon (November 1, 2015): the big one where I have slim to none chance getting into the lottery but it is worth a shot for sure!! 

• Application open date: Jan 15-Feb 15. 
  
• Notification date: March TBD (assuming end of March based on last year)
  
• Deferment is not an open
  

2. Marine Corps Marathon (October 25, 2015)-the recaps of this race are insanely epic and I have been trying to get back to DC for a few years now. 

• Application Open Date: March 13-22
  
• Notification Date:  March 25th
  
• Deferring is allowed for 60 bucks

3. Chicago Marathon (October 11, 2015): a flat-ish course and I love Chicago! 

• Application open Date: TBD (most likely March 6- April 6 based on last year)
  
• Notification Date: TBD (most likely April 13 based on last year) 
  
• Deferring is an option: However you don't get a refund of your initial fee
  

Now, I am unsure how to do this. I REALLY want to run Wine and Dine again as I have a few friends that have said they would run it as well! I also want to be there for an inaugural Avengers Challenge if it happens. As of now, here is what I am thinking:
I will enter the MCM lottery first and hope I get in. If not, I will enter the Chicago marathon lottery. I am going to forego the NYCM for now. I doubt I will get in and if I somehow did, I would really be hard pressed to do Wine and Dine and Avengers. I want to do Wine and Dine as I will be in the 3rd year of my Doctoral program and be in the middle of my dissertation in 2016 so there is no way I can do a WDW trip then (unfortunately!) but I potentially swing a NYCM (if I could get in).

So hopefully I will be able to get into at least MCM or Chicago Marathon for Fall 2015, if not, then I will come up with another plan (maybe the Nike Women's half in SF? if it is still happening the lottery would be in June).

What is your 2015 race schedule shaping up to look like?