2013 Mini Goals: January : Plan Your Race Year

The Runner's World article "A Month-by-Month Guide to a Fitter, Faster You" lays out monthly mini goals for the year and January's is to Plan Your Race Year.

Putting a race on your calendar now is one of the best ways to get and stay motivated. You commit to a goal. But staring down a year of race options, you may feel excited or daunted—or both—especially if you've never raced before. Should you tackle a first 5-K? A mud run? The annual mega-10-K all your coworkers sign up for? Aim for a PR in a half-marathon? Here are some guidelines to help you figure out what event—or even better, events—to sign up for in 2013. ... (read the rest of the article here).

Since my main goal for the coming year is to find the fun in running again, I'm trying to cut back on my race schedule a bit, and the longest distance I'm registering for is half marathons - no fulls for a while!

Of course, the temptation of new and exciting races means that my spring racing schedule is perhaps a little fuller than it should be, but I'm really excited about it!  Each race will be with friends and family and in fun and exciting locations, so I couldn't pass them up!

So here's what 2013 has in store for me:

• January 13: Walt Disney World Marathon - Orlando, FL
• February 9: Hot Chocolate 15K - Dallas, TX
• February 24: Disney's Princess Half Marathon - Orlando, FL
• March 23: Firefly 5K - Plano, TX
• April 28: Big Sur 10.6 - Carmel, CA
• June 22: Rock'n'Roll Seattle Half Marathon - Seattle, WA
• July 20: Moo Cow Mini Marathon  - Dallas, TX
• October 12: Baltimore Running Festival Half Marathon - Baltimore, MD
• November 28: Turkey Trot - Austin, TX
• December 8: Dallas Relay - Dallas, TX

Q4U: Have you planned out this year's race calendar yet?  Is it full of races or does it only have a select few?

Room for More?

My Christmas present to myself this year was a "real" medal display (I've been using a tie/belt rack the past few years).  I mounted the Allied Medal Display this weekend on the wall of the office/workout/craft room.  Then I began the painstaking process of deciding what medal went where and arranging and re-arranging the display (which I'm still not 100% happy with and think I will make a couple more placement changes next week).  As the process neared the end, I realized I had misjudged exactly how many medals I have, and how many I plan on earning in the coming year.  Oops.  The medal rack is already fairly full!

New Medal Display as of January 5, 2013

So, exactly what races are on the schedule next year that this is an issue, you ask?  Great question!  Check back later this week to see my post about Runner's World January Mini Goal: Plan Your Race Year!

Q4U:  I'm very excited about having an "official" display for my medals!  How do you display yours?  Are they proudly exhibited on a wall in your house?  Tossed in a drawer some where?  In shadow boxes?  I'd love to hear what others do with their hardware!