My season so far, and looking ahead

This is an exciting time of the year for me. I have two very important races coming up in 3 and 4 weeks, and possibly another 2 weeks after that. This training cycle has gone better than ever for me, especially regarding the strength I've built up since July. The big change this cycle was motivated by my first-ever half marathon, the Philly RnR Half (formerly Philly Distance Run) that was in mid-September. Normally I would focus my training on 8k/10k pace work starting in September, but this year I started doing long workouts and tempo runs starting in July as preparation for the half and I think that the strength I gained will really pay off for the upcoming 8k races.

First XC race this season (UMES)

The first important race is the NIRCA national meet, or the club XC national championship. It's at Charlotte and should be a pretty good race. I give myself pretty good chances to win, but you never know who might show up. Last year it was won by a Michigan guy by about 20 seconds in a respectable time so hopefully it's a fast race. I also think that we have a great shot to win the team race, which promises to be exciting. 

The weekend after that I'm racing the Rothman 8k in Philadelphia. This is known for being a super-fast course and typically has a pretty strong field. I was fortunate enough to make it into the Elite field on the strength of my half-marathon and 5000m PR's, and looking at results the winning time is always under 24 minutes so I hope to put myself in contention for the top spots there. 

After that I might either call it a season and get to work this winter on a high-mileage and strength workout plan to prepare for the upcoming track season and the challenges of 5k/10k racing, or if I still feel good I may extend my season to an early-season indoor meet at Haverford that usually draws some good college guys looking for an early 5k qualifier. It would be nice to race there but I'm really focusing on the next few weeks so it's not a big deal if I decide not to race.