The year ahead in running & racing

I've finally settled on the races I want to participate in and the schedule I want to follow this year. This time around, I've decided on (loosely) following the Galloway Training Cycle. His is a 30-week cycle - much longer than the 16-week cycles I'm used to. His plan takes you way up to 26 miles, and I'm gonna modify that slightly making my longest run 23 miles pre-race. I'm also opting to spice things up by adding a few races into the mix.

So here is my long-run and race schedule for 2010. Each of these distances is a single run most likely completed on a weekend. For January, I will run once a month. In February, I may add a second running day per week if I can get get below 150 pounds (I want to avoid injury.) Once I get into the thick of my training, I will run 2 30-minute sessions each week in addition to my long run - that's it!

January
(Pre-training schedule)
Week 1: 3 miles (done!)
Week 2: 3 miles
Week 3: 3 miles
Week 4: 3 miles
Week 5: 3 miles

February
(Pre-training, cont)
Week 1: 3.5 miles
Week 2: 3 miles
Week 3: 3.5 miles
Week 4: 3 miles

March
Week 1: 3 miles
Week 2: St Patty's Day 5K (Tacoma) on March 13th
Week 3: 3 miles
Week 4: 5 miles

April
Week 1: 3 miles
Week 2: 6 miles
Week 3: 3 miles
Week 4: 7 miles

May
Week 1: 3 miles
Week 2: 9 miles
Week 3: 4 miles
Week 4: 10 miles
Week 5: 4 miles

June
Week 1: 12 miles
Week 2: Sound to Narrows on June 13th (12K)
Week 3: 13 miles
Week 4: 5 miles

July
Week 1: 15 miles
Week 2: 5 miles + a magical mile (I need to read more about this)
Week 3: 5 miles
Week 4: Seattle Rock n' Roll 1/2 Marathon on July 26th
Week 5: OFF

August
Week 1: 17 miles
Week 2: 6 miles
Week 3: 7 miles + a magical mile
Week 4: 20 miles

September
Week 1: 6 miles
Week 2: 7 miles + a magical mile
Week 3: 23 miles
Week 4: 6 miles

October
Week 1: 7 miles
Week 2: Portland Marathon on October 10th
Week 3: OFF

Beyond this, I'm unsure what I'll do. I *might* consider doing the Seattle 1/2 or full Marathon as well in November depending on how I'm feeling. But right now, October's my target!

Photo credit Felipe Wiecheteck