Plans are set

Yup. A Ragnar recap is in order. I'll get to that this week.

First, I just want to get something out there about what's coming up for the next few months. If you look over at the race schedule sidebar, you'll notice it doesn't have anything listed after Ragnar. That's because up until a few weeks ago, I didn't have any plans set in stone.

I do now.

It'll be a summer and fall working towards a trio of half marathons. Since I didn't get an official time in the Green Bay Half Marathon and therefore wasn't able to apply for Half Fanatics status, that became the goal for the fall. Well, that and have better results than I did in the spring. So I picked my races.

The Madison Mini on Aug. 18. I loved this race last year, even WITH the hour-and-a-half delay due to a thunderstorm. Of course, it's hard not to love a race that runs through the UW campus and some of my favorite places in a city that holds a special place in my heart. Honestly, this may be a "training" run, but I'll decided that as the race gets closer.

Fox Cities Half Marathon on Sept. 23. This is my home half marathon. Run through my hometown. The site of my first half marathon. The place where I set my current PR. So of course I'll be back. It's also the race that I'm throwing that "A" race designation on. I'm planning on leaving it all out on the race course.

And I'll wind down the fall racing season with the Tyranena Beer Run half marathon on Nov. 3. I'm excited for this one. Most, if not all, of the The Panty Raiders will be there, so it'll be a mini-Ragnar reunion. Plus I have a ton of oher friends who will be out there on the race course. I think it'll be a fun race to end the season. Plus, being an early November race, it'll motivate me to keep running once that A race is over. And if we continue with hot weather through the summer, it should give me an almost guaranteed cooler weather half.

So there you have it. Three half marathons planned for the fall. Throw in a 5K or two for fun and there's been talk of doing an Olympic triathlon relay. Should be a good summer full of big dreams, hard work and lots of running.