new discoveries abound

as you all know i am fully committed to the Chicago Marathon this fall, but thought that it wouldn't be a bad idea to sign up for some smaller races between now and then. so began my search and i was pleasantly surprised that although most required some driving, there were some interesting options.

first being right here in my fair city (well just a short 10 miles away). The Redwood Wild River Run 15k, mar 27 @ a very nice 11am... for those of you who don't know i'm not a morning person.

then we have the Pear Blossom Run on sat, april 10th in medford, OR, which is about 100 miles away but thought it sounded nice. i like pears and i like to run, bingo.

the last one i found thus far is by and large the one i am most excited about. The Avenue of the Giants Marathon (and, thank God for me, 1/2 marathon cause i'm just not ready to commit to 2 fulls in one year!) on sunday, may 2nd. essentially it is in the Redwood Forrest. runners world called it one of the most beautiful courses in the country. imagine running amidst these guys. love. it.

so, although the last two will require a weekend trip which of course will cost me some begging, i am prepared to do for the good of the cause. said cause being me keeping my sanity while training for a marathon alone! boo.

while searching for these races i stumbled upon a wonderful little website called dailymile.com. some of you are familiar with it but those of you who are not, check it out. there you are able to track your runs, workouts and chat with other running enthusiasts. it even finds other runners in your area. i have not made any attempt to communicate with these people as that seems a tad forward. but i sure can stalk them and see if they would be good potential running buddies!

so, there you have my week of discoveries. oh and i did manage to get in 12mi of running and complete week 2 of p90x (which i have a love/hate relationship with, but that is for another blog).