Hello friends, and hello April!
February and March flew right by, and I am now only one month away from my first race of the year — Flying Pig Half Marathon in Cincinnati, Ohio (May 7).
I kicked off April with 16 miles this past weekend — 8 treadmill miles Saturday morning, 5 treadmill miles Sunday morning, and 3 fast miles at the C&O Canal Sunday evening. I did those 3 miles with a friend, and spent the entire time trying to keep pace with him. Wasn’t easy — I had a gasping for life moment at the end. But I survived! And I think it was good for me. I don’t push myself enough when it comes to speed and definitely need to add more speed workouts into my schedule.
Overall, training for Flying Pig has been going well. I’ve been averaging about 30-35 miles a week and incorporating at least one day of hill workouts during the week (I hear Flying Pig is a hilly course). This month, I’m aiming to bump up the weekly mileage to about 40. I figured after Flying Pig, I would continue the training schedule until my half marathon in Boston at the end of May.
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Have you been to Ohio? I haven’t. And I’m kind of looking forward to it! Some people give me weird looks when I say that, thinking, “what exactly is there to do in Ohio??” Well, there’s the Flying Pig Marathon, for one. 🙂 If you have any food/activity suggestions for Cincinnati, let me know.
We’ll also be spending a little time in Dayton (for the U.S. Air Force Museum), Toledo (for the lake/river views), and Sandusky (for Cedar Point park! Wooooo roller coasters! SO excited about this.) If you have any food recommendations for those areas, too, I would love to hear ‘em.
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So, I’ve got a little update on my race schedule.
I’ve been reviewing my travel plans for the year, which includes a couple of international trips (heading to Iceland in less than two weeks!), and a handful of new states. And after some thought, I’ve decided to take Rock ’n’ Roll Seattle (in June) out of the lineup. I’m a little bummed (and still not 100 percent sure I’ll skip it), but flights to Seattle are kind of high, and I’m making it a priority to stay within my $500/per race destination budget. I’m sure I’ll go over a little for some races, but a plane ticket to Seattle alone will be close to $500, so there’s no way I would stay within budget for that race.
I haven’t decided if I’ll replace Seattle with another race yet. Still looking around. Maybe the Revel Race in Denver (thanks Jen, for introducing me to the Revel series!). If you know of any good half marathons going on this summer, let me know!
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Big congrats to all the runners that participated in the Cherry Blossom 5K and 10-miler this weekend! Such great weather for it! I haven’t done this race in years, but I remember it being a lot of fun. Going to have to add it to the list for next year. 🙂
What races do you have on tap for this year?
Running the States 
great post Natasha, glad the training for Flying Pig is going well…I’ve heard great things about that race but I’ve never been to Ohio either…and pretty sure the only time we’ll go is to run a marathon to check it off the list!! too bad you won’t be coming to Seattle this year but I’m sure you’ll make it one year…my race/travel schedule is about in place now with a half in Reno at the end the April…was going to do the full but the course is insane so dropped to the half and replaced it with a marathon in early june which will give me a better chance for a PR – North Olympic Discovery Marathon…and we just found out we will be running Marine Corps – it will be my wife’s first ever marathon so will be pacing her…going to be a busy year, we finish in December with RnR San Antonio!! sorry, for such a long comment…good luck with the rest of your training!
Thanks, James! Pretty excited about Flying Pig. I’ve heard great things about it, too! Yep, definitely hoping I can do Seattle next year!
Sounds like you’ve got an awesome race lineup this year! Congrats to you and your wife for getting into MCM! It’s one of my favorite races. I wish your wife the best on her first marathon training. 🙂 And good luck to you, too, on all your trainings! Fingers crossed you get that PR in June!
Lol at your Ohio comments. My husband is from Canton, Ohio and went to college at Toledo so I’ve been to Ohio many times, mostly to visit his family. I went to Toledo once with him and didn’t think very much of the area. Maybe you’ll have a different impression than I did but I would never want to go back personally. I’ve only been to Cincinnati to go to King’s Island so I can’t say much about that, but I’ve heard great things about Flying Pig race.
I never knew about Kings Island! Glad you mentioned it. Since it’s closer, maybe we’ll go there instead of Cedar Point – thanks! 🙂 Yeah, not sure if we’ll find much to do in Toledo, but we figured since we’re over there, why not. I’ve heard good things about the Flying Pig race, too. Hopefully it doesn’t disappoint. 😀
Cedar Point is known for its roller coasters, so if you’re a big-time coaster fan, I wouldn’t skip it. If you’re like me and just like going to amusement parks, King’s Island is a fun place. Either way, I’m sure you’ll have a good time.
That’s a good point – we’ll probably end up going to Cedar Point. Still glad you told me about Kings Island though! If there’s time, I’d love to check it out.
Have so much fun! My blog reader didn’t notify me that there was a new post 🙂
thanks, Jen! 🙂 can’t wait to tell you all about it!