It is once again in the 90s today, which a bit of relief finally on the horizon for next week. For many of you, I realize that these temps are either a) commonplace, or b) desirable out of a love for summer. Aside from the more relaxed pace and change of activities, summer has never been one of my favorite seasons. I tend to find myself more productive the busier and more structured I am, so seeing Fall right around the corner is quite exciting! Classes at Iowa State began this past week (hence the late post), and my independent summer gave way to quite a bit more activity. I’ll be defending my dissertation this semester (fingers crossed), as well as teaching two classes, looking for a job, auditing a course, and training for my first 24-hour event in December. It’s going to be a busy next few months, and I couldn’t be more excited!
Aside from the “race” to graduate, October appears to be a peak month for crazy, so I thought I would provide a bit of a preview. Over the course of 3 weeks, I’ll tackle 4 significant races, and log quite a few miles in between. Along the way, I have no doubt that I’m going to form some wonderful memories with great friends, and I can’t wait.
October 5th
This is the one weekend all month that I don’t have a race. However, I do have a 28 mile training run on the calendar, so I suppose I can call that an un-official ultra, eh?
October 12th
I’ll be traveling to Lincoln, NE to run the Market to Market relay- Nebraska. As you may recall, I ran the Market to Market Relay- Iowa earlier this year and had a blast. I’ll be joining several of the same friends, along with some new friends for 78 miles of running from Omaha to Lincoln. The segments are relatively short, so the day should fly by pretty quickly, and I’ll probably squeeze in a few extra miles as well. It should be another great relay experience!
October 19th
I’ve had the Indianapolis Marathon on my calendar the longest of my races this year. After running the Little Rock Marathon with a few friends, we decided we needed to do a fall marathon together so we signed up within a week of finishing Little Rock. The date and nice flat course must have looked mighty appealing, because close to 20 other friends signed up over the coming months, including the beautiful epicurean, who will be running her first half-marathon! The result will no doubt be an amazing road trip, a great race, and another state crossed off my list in my quest for 50!
October 20th
Indianapolis was going to be my last major race before Across the Years, but that was before my friends decided to challenge my crazy! Several of them have thoroughly enjoyed going down to the Des Moines Marathon to cheer on friends. This race has a history of being a first half-marathon and marathon for many folks in our running community, including yours truly. So, they decided we should drive back from Indianapolis after the race to be back in time for the race. They also suggested I just go ahead and run the Des Moines Marathon as well. Obviously I couldn’t say no to this challenge, so here we go!
October 27th
Nebraska is about the last “local” state I have yet to cross off my 50 states list, and I was eager to find a unique race to fit the bill. The G.O.A.T.z 50K was run on a series of trails near Omaha last year, and I had several friends who ran the race and thoroughly enjoyed it. I figured this would be a perfect opportunity to not only cross Nebraska off my list, but enjoy a trail race as well. Nebraska certainly isn’t a destination I would think about traveling to for any other reason, so it’s funny to me that I’ll be heading that way twice in a month!
So, there you have it. I’m sure I’ll sprinkle in some other adventures as well, but I’m definitely looking forward to the running memories that October has in store for me!
