Summer 2018 - What's on tap

Although the temps have shown (and felt) otherwise, summer has not officially begun...yet.

I have been looking forward to Summer 2018 for almost a year, believe it or not. Since my summer last year was a bit jacked (full details HERE), I plan to take full advantage of every available opportunity to be outside (preferably in my running shoes) this year.


Here's what I have on tap thus far:

Last weekend (June 16th), I ran a local 5K. The Grinnell Games happen every year in my home town, and I make it a priority to participate. With the exception of last year (when I was actually in Duluth, MN for Grandma's Marathon), I have participated every year the Games have been happening (since 2012).

Grinnell Games 2018...it was hot and humid!

My next race will be the Sully Freedom Fun Run 5K on July 4th. I have run this race every year since 2013 (except for last year, when I was in the hospital recovering from surgery). This event is a lot of fun! It's a small-town endeavor, but there's always a lot of runners toeing the start line (including area high school cross country standouts).

From 2015....yes, I'm in a tutu, but I did snag a 2nd place AG finish LOL

June and July will be geared towards maintaining my running base and daily walking. Since I couldn't run last summer, I made it a priority to get outside almost every morning for power walking. I'm an early-morning gal, and those pre-sunrise walks helped me cope with the absence of running. All of that walking also strengthened my legs (in a way that running hadn't) and allowed me to maintain my cardio endurance until I was granted clearance to return to running (in Sept. 2017).

There will be plenty of power walking happening

My big event of the summer will be the Rock'n'Roll Chicago Remix (July 21st-22nd). I was registered for the half marathon last year, but had to DNS due to my surgery. This year, not only will I be there to run the 5K and the half marathon, there's a slew of blogging pals I'm looking forward to seeing in the Windy City, many of which I have not met in person but have know for awhile via blogging and social media.

aren't the R'n'R Chicago medals pretty?

After Chicago, I'll be shifting my focus to training for the Cannonball Marathon (Oct. 13th in Greensboro, NC). Every week, I do a #nevermissaMonday run to kick start my week. Those runs are typically only 1-2 miles, but they will be eventually increasing to five miles in distance as my 26.2 training progresses. There will be weekly speedwork and moderate strength-training as well. And, long runs on most of the weekends.

I'm still looking for an August race, so stay tuned. I do have a half marathon happening on Labor Day weekend, the New Bo Half Marathon (Sept. 2nd). This is a relatively new event, and it will be my first time running it. And, a few weeks after that, it will already be time for the tapering to commence for the Cannonball. I am considering R'n'R Philly (Sept. 15th-16th), and do have the Kickoff to Kinnick 5K on my roster for September 29th.

So, that's what's happening in the next few months. It may seem like a lot of races (especially in the midst of marathon training), but I'm not planning on racing any of these events aggressively. I'm more of a runner (who races) than a racer (who runs).

Do you have your summer schedule set? Are you prepping for any fall races? Running for fun?

**I'm linking up with Marcia and Patty and Erika for Tuesdays on the Run.

**I'm also linking this with Debbie and Rachel and Marc and Lora for the Running Coaches' Corner