2023 Race Plans!

Hello friends! I hope you were able to have some rest over the holiday season and your year is off to a promising start. 

Over the past few weeks I've been doing some brainstorming about what I want to run this spring. We have some National Masters Grand Prix road races to consider, plus I still haven't ruled out trying to get a marathon under my belt this spring. Here's what's on my calendar currently:

February 25 -- Victory Half Marathon (Richmond, CA). This is the rare flat Brazen road race and it's only about a half hour from me to boot! I've run the 10K here twice before (2017 and 2020) and, like every other Brazen race I've ever participated in, it was well organized and well supported both times. 

2017 10K

Victory 10K 2020 was also my last race before the pandemic, which seems like both yesterday and also a decade ago.

The late-February date is also kind of perfect -- it will give me close to two months to get back into the swing of things and work my way back into bigger workouts without feeling rushed, then give me a chance to test out my fitness in a pretty low-stakes way. Plus it still leaves me a solid month-plus to recover for...

April 2 -- SacTown 10 Miles (USATF Masters 10 Mile Championships). Like last year, SacTown 10 will once again be the USATF Masters 10 Mile Championship race, so my teammates and I are again planning to pull a team together. This event was a lot of fun last year and I am looking forward to beating my 2022 time of 1:16. (Last year the race was just two weeks after the miracle that was Oakland Half, so I am hoping that a month+ between Victory Half and this will mean I go into it slightly more recovered lol.)

Warming up at SacTown 10 2022

SacTown 10 ladies masters team & a few other teammates who ran in the open race

April 30 -- James Joyce Ramble (USATF Masters 10K Champs in Dedham, MA). Not 100% sure about this one yet, but our masters ladies have discussed traveling to one of the other Masters Grand Prix road races this year and it seems like Boston/Dedham might be the most appealing option.

June 3 -- Newport Marathon???? This is really just an idea right now, but I went ahead and did some research into what my best bets would be for a fast-ish late spring marathon that fit with the rest of my schedule. For all that it takes place in early June, this race's location on the Oregon coast means it's usually cool and lends itself to fast times.

...And that seems like plenty to be getting on with for the first half of the year! It's possible some shorter stuff could pop up here & there just for fun, but these are the main races I'm targeting for the spring.

What on your 2023 race calendar's got you pumped up??