4 Races, 5 Weeks

After giving up on my formal training plan for the two half-marathons I have coming up this fall, I decided to throw in a couple of 5K races! What better way to motivate a runner than upcoming races? It sure gets me out of bed in the morning. Still no systematic training plan, just a "run as I please" effort with a few pick-ups when I feel like running faster. Instead of just the two half marathons, now I have 4 races in a period of 5 weeks. Here they are:

Sept 29: 5K Aruna Run
A 5km race for a good cause (help free and empower sex slaves). The race is on grass at the University of Illinois arboretum. I've done runs and races there before--it's a hilly course used by the UI cross country team. Should be a great speed workout. No 5K PR due to the grass and hills. But this will be my first Aruna 5k race--so a race-specific PR is guaranteed.

Oct 6: Fort Ben Half-Marathon
Very nice race through and around Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis. All roads and paved bike paths, but a pretty course with a few hills. It kicked my butt last year. I went out way too fast (first 2 miles are slight downhill). I'll be more disciplined this year and use it as a tune-up race for the Monumental half-marathon in early November. My race report from last year's Fort Ben Half is here.

Oct 20: Illini Mentor Program 5K
I do this race almost every year. It's a student group at Illinois that uses the University Quad as its race course. Three loops up and down the quad sidewalks. Not the most imaginative course, but still nice with all the big trees and old university buildings. Over the last 6 years, I have 2 of the top 10 all-time fastest finishes! Maybe I'll make that 3 of the top 10 results. I think these college kids push me too hard. My IMP 5km race report from last year is here.

Nov 3: Indy Monumental Half-Marathon
Was injured last year when I ran this race (not an over-use injury, but rather "fall and bust my knee" injury). Plan on being fit and injury-free when I do it this year! And I'll have all of these tune-up races too. Probably not a new PR, but I hope to run a few minutes faster than last time (1:41 in 2017). Last year's race report is here.