Every girl needs a plan!

Since the Marathon I feel like I have been floundering!  Lots of running friends have booked races already for 2013 but my problem has been I haven't been able to decide whether to concentrate on long distance running, short distance running, cycling sportives, triathlons or duathlons. I have felt bereft without a goal to aim for and have started to feel quite unmotivated. 

Last night I decided a plan was needed!

I printed off a 2013 monthly diary and went through all the race options on the internet and wrote down all the possibilities that interested me in the appropriate month. Next I printed off a year planner on an A4 sheet and marked it with school holidays and our booked holidays to USA.  Studying this made me realise I could easily break the year up into 2 halves. Pre-USA and post-USA!

For quite a while now I have wanted to enter a Triathlon but have been too scared and lacking in confidence to do so!  Last night with the help of Mr Pinot Grigio I decided 2013 WOULD be the year I would achieve this dream.

So ...

working on the principle of splitting the year into 2 I decided that pre-USA I would enter duathlons, triathlons and 5K or 10K runs and post-USA I would concentrate on long distance running and enter Half marathons and perhaps book another marathon.

With this in mind I went through the events I had written down for the months January to July, and selected the short running events, duathons and triathlons I wanted to enter, then did the same for August to December but this time I selected the long running events I wanted to enter. 

A bottle of wine later I had a plan that looked like this:

January - Carlisle 10K run
February - Mad Dog 10K run
March - Stokesley Novice Duathlon
April - Talkin Tarn Duathlon 
           Kendal Sprint Triathlon
May - Manchester 10K
June - Cheshire Sprint Triathlon 

September - Great Scottish Run Half Marathon
                 -The Great North Run Half Marathon
October - The Cumbrian Run Half Marathon
               Dublin Marathon

Unfortunately I couldn't book places on all these whilst I was all enthusiastic as the bookings for most haven't opened yet.

I have confirmed the Mad Dog 10K and Manchester 10K, and will have to keep an eagle eye out for the others opening. 

Next I had to decide which were going to be my main events to train for.  I decided on the Kendal Triathlon, being the first triathlon and downloaded a 16 week beginners triathlon training plan that starts on the 7th January. After my holidays I will have 11 weeks to work a training plan for the marathon in.

I feel much more positive now and almost excited about starting training now I have set my goals!