Ok, It’s on. We are about 89 days away from the Rock n Roll Madrid Marathon.
I have a bit of an idea of what I plan to do regarding training. Fortunately for me, Front Runners NY (one of my running groups) has a training plan that for NJ’s Marathon, which just so happens to be the same day as Madrid’s Marathon. The training plan looks pretty manageable with 4 days of running and 1-2 days of strength training. We’ll see how this goes.
The EDP Rock n Roll Marathon Madrid even has an official Spotify playlist. I’m sure the other Rock n Roll races have something similar, but I’m a little confused why the playlist does not have any rock en Espanol tracks? Actually, I think there are 2-3 (out of 60) songs en Espanol.
New Year’s Resolution: 12 half marathons in 2020
I started populating my half marathon calendar by registering for a few races over the weekend. It’s such a shame that most races are on Sunday, but I cannot do Sunday races until June. For this round of registering, I signed up for a few smaller races. I will say that I was a bit surprised by the struggleness of some of the websites. I mean, can I get a decent course map?! But, these races are a bit cheaper than the NYRR-sponsored ones so I guess you get what you pay for.
February 15: V-Day Half Marathon and Brunch (***), Queens, NY
I doubt this half comes with brunch, so I do not know why the folks at Rockapulco Run are calling it that. Bag drop of and bib pick up is at a pub; maybe the pub will have some nibbles after the half. I kind of wish that Roockapulco Run site had a bit more information about the couse. The one map that was on the website was very blurry. I emailed one of the organizers, and he wrote this about the course.
“Hello, Kwame, The race is on the boardwalk in Rockaway Beach. Two – 6.55 mile loops starting and finishing at Beach 116 St. The course extends from Beach 50 St to Beach 126 St. All along the ocean. See you out there. Thanks John”
I guess that I’ll find out when I get to the Rockaways on the 15th. Since the half will be on the boardwalk (maybe), I would imagine that this half will be pretty flat. Hopefully, I’ll improve on my Fred Lebow Half Marathon’s time.
March 7: The Lantern Run Half Marathon (***), NY, NY
A pretty small race where the times are recorded by hand. I kind of like the old school vibe. Registration was around $50, which includes the cost of mailing your race materials to your home address. Pause. Maybe I should see if they can mail this stuff to work.
“A small, private run (capped at 25 participants per wave) with coordinators that provide water/snacks and record finish times. We’ve stripped the excess of larger races to focus on just the run itself for participants looking to receive a recorded time while improving their run. We also provide participants with a cool swag bag filled with run goodies!”
Oh, only 25 participants for each wave? I’ll probably be dead last for this one.
June 13: 1/2 Sauer 1/2 Kraut, Philly, PA (***)
A half marathon that involves bratwursts, other German food, and beer? Sign me up. The registration cost includes a beer and meal ticket at a Beer Garden in North Philly. Also, there’s even a costume contest!!!! 
This kind of looks like a fun one. Although the half and full marathons are in Philly, these races will be held within Pennypack Park, and even a portion of the course will consist of a couple of trails.
Perhaps, the hubby and I can make this a weekend trip.
April and May
I’m still on the fence for a couple of half marathons in April and May, but I’ll make my final choice sometime next month.
Reading is fundamental:
Sometimes, I listen to Marathon Training Podcast, and the hosts mentioned a few running-themed and nonrunning-themed books that they read during 2019. You can find the list here (***). I decided to check out a couple of the books from their reading list for some inspiration and motivation.
I just finished “Running Man: A Memoir” by Charlie Engle.
I guess that I’ll write a review of this book in a couple of days.
I’m currently reading “Rebound: train your mind to bounce back stronger from sports injuries”. This one is just oooook. I want to hurry up and finish it so I can read “Hansons Marathon Method”.
Any running-themed or motivational books that you read in 2019? Or, any book for that matter.
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I’ve looked at the half kraut race in philly. I did the philly Marathon last year and from Boston it’s a ways to travel for a half.
Have you considered the baa half in October?
People come from all over for this race and it’s a good one that runs along Boston’s Emerald Necklace of park’s in the city
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That’s for the recommendation. I have not looked at any half marathons after July, but I will make a mental note of the BAA half. . . Maybe, I should write it down somewhere.
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You brought me in with a catchy throwback title.
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Those halves look really good though I do get annoyed when there’s not a proper map! We have a local running group who are allied to Front Runners but called the Birmingham Swifts, they’re brilliant and go down to London en masse for the Front Runners’ 10k which has The Best Medal. Anyway, have fun with these and I look forward to reading the reports.
Regarding running books I just read Vybarr Cregan-Reid’s Footnotes: How Running Makes us Human, which was quite a literary and scientific look at running, Anything for a T-shirt which was about Fred Lebow so would appeal probably if you’ve not already read it. Bella Mackie’s “Jog On” was a great book about beginning running and very engaging. Vassos Alexander’s Don’t Stop me Now is excellent and was read around me doing my first ultra last summer. Susan Lacke’s Running Outside the Comfort Zone was fun … About 100 other reviews from last year on my blog but that’s the main running ones I enjoyed.
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Thanks for the recommendations. I remember your review about Anything for a T-shirt.
Yes, don’t get why an organization cannot make a simple run? Are they not allowed to post routes from Mapmyrun?
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Love it! I know a lot of people that enjoy Hansons plan. I did Hal Higdon when I first started doing the 26.2 distance and especially when I wanted to increase my mileage safely and it produced kick ass results. Happy training!
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