I started this year with the goal of finishing last in a race, and so far that hasn’t happened. I have been pushing myself, but my times are all going down. I ran a half-marathon the day after paddle triathlon, and instead of doing poorly finished with a PR. I ran an early season full marathon, and got another PR. I ran a 12+ mile trail race and again finished fairly well.
The distances for my July races will be a bit shorter, but after that I am going back to challenging myself again. In late August, I will be racing in my first half-ironman distance triathlon. In September I will be running a Rochester marathon that is far from flat and a 200 mile relay race in the Adirondacks. In October I will be running a 50k race for my first ultra-marathon.
Next up is the 4th of July 10k, a race I have run 5 times before. First running in 2004, and then the past 4 years I have finished in 63:24, 65:12, 60:14, 55:54, and, 52:31. My goal for this year is to be under 52 minutes, but if the weather is cool (which it probably won’t be) I think attempting to get under 50 minutes is plausible as well.