Last year after the OBX marathon, the marathon and I needed to take a break. I was feeling a little burnt out on the training and the miles (even though looking back I wasn’t running all that many). Plus, with trying to wrap up my PhD, and start the job hunt, I had a lot of other stuff on my plate.
This year hasn’t had as many races as the last few years, and while that has been kind of nice, I’m now really feeling ready for a new goal. After the Scandia 10k in August, I was so pumped out about my improvements, that I signed up for the California International Marathon! As you may know, I lived in Sacramento for a few years, but never actually ran this race. I’m looking forward to a visit back to CA in December for the marathon and to visit friends.
Source: http://runcim.org/
Besides CIM, along the way I’m going to be trying my hand at a couple trail half marathons this fall too. The first is this Satudray at the South Santiam half marathon in Lebanon, OR. The second is the Silver Falls half marathon in Silverton, OR the first weekend in November. I have been doing more trail running as part of my training runs here, and I’m loving them! It’s nice to be off the roads sometimes and feel like you’re getting lost in the woods. Hopefully my first trail race ever will go well this weekend! I’ll keep you posted.
So far, CIM training is just starting to pick up for me. I ran a 13 mile long run last week, and this weekend I’ll be using the trail race as part of a 15 mile long run. On the negative side, I’ve had a little bit of knee pain, that started after running the Cascade Lakes Relay. The good news is that it doesn’t bother me while I’m running, and it seems that as long as I have some Rock tape to support my knee, I’m feeling great on a daily basis. On the positive side, I’m putting in more miles than I ever have before, with this week’s goal of 42 miles. And I’m really having a ton of fun. Generally, I feel good and I’m hoping I can keep this up for the next couple months of training!
Have you run CIM before? What do you think about trail races?
Defy Your Limitations 
And your BACK!!! 🙂 I am so excited for you to do CIM. It is on my list for sure!! I have some friends who have done Silver Falls(that are doing it again this year) and they love it!! I have only been to Silver Falls once and it was amazing!! I did a trail run last weekend. It was fun.
I have never done a trail race before. They seem much more laid back then a road race!
I hope your knee feels better!!!
Glad to read you’ve got the marathon bug again! Todd and I ran CIM on our Honeymoon! I loved that marathon! I wore a shirt that said “Just Married” and the crowd was awesome, screaming out congratulations and a few “your crazy’s”. Hope you rocked the trail half today 🙂
I’ve heard that the CIM is a great marathon, particularly because it’s a net loss and downhill. I thought about running that one too… maybe next year! 🙂 I’ve heard the weather can be a little testy there in December, so I will send good weather vibes your way. I love trail races. I probable do two or three a year around the Central Oregon area. You should sign up for one next year around here so we can run together!!