Back to basics.

So, my work travel is done till July. Tax Season is officially over. It's time to finally start thinking about running/training again. For the past few months, it's all I could think about. Running fell by the wayside for these last few weeks, and I am really anxious to get back into it.

 My speed and agility at this point.

Excited to get back to regimented training and weekly speed workouts? Not yet, I don't think. But, ready to just get back to a place where a 12 mile long run doesn't feel like death.

All of my runs these days.

First and foremost, I want to get my endurance back. I've got a plan that includes running the 11.2 every weekend (that I'm in town, at least) starting in May. And not just to lollygag, but to try to continually improve on it, week-to-week. It's hilly, and I just feel like I could gain a lot of fitness from tackling that beast every week.

Here is what my Future Long Term Race Plans look like:

Sept 20: Fox Valley Marathon in Illinois. This is not a PR attempt race. This is a "Keep me honest through the summer" race.

Late November: Monkey Marathon. At this point in the game, I'm saying that I'd like to break 4 hours there. But, this could turn into just wanting to course PR there. (which shouldn't be too hard, my PR there is like a 4:39).

December: Bellringer 50K. I ran the 25K last year and feel like it would be a good course for a 50K.

January 2016: Bandera 50K. I hear it's a great course and a chance to cross Texas off my list.

March 2016: Land Between the Lakes 50 mile. FINALLY want to get around to trying the 50 mile distance.

And of course, there will be other smaller races sprinkled in. And any opportunity that I get to cross off a state, I will take.

So, there it is. The schedule I've been daydreaming about for 3 months. It's a lot and I think we all know at this point to take it with a grain of salt. I'm the Queen of Planning as well as the Queen of Bailing. Soooooo... We will see what happens. But, I really, really, really hope I can get my shit together long enough to follow through on all these races.