I always encourage beginning runners to sign up for a race, to set a goal that will keep them motivated to train. Once you make the commitment to run a 5k or a marathon or any distance in between, you have little choice but to make sure you are ready to actually run it. There are a lot of runners entered in the Shamrock Shuffle Sunday who did just that, and are entering their first race ever. Good luck to them.
As a runner for more than three decades, I believe I'm pretty committed to keeping a regular running. But I still find that signing up for races, and knowing they are coming up, keeps me not only motivated, but disciplined. Right now, knowing I have the Boston Marathon looming in less than a month or so, keeps me on a pretty strict running schedule, even if I make it up week by week. There is really no good way to run a marathon without putting in the miles in the 
months leading up to it. But I really never think much about races beyond the one in my immediate future.
That's why the note in my computer mailbox a few weeks ago got me thinking. My friend from college track sent laid out his planned race schedule for the entire running season. He put it on Facebook so lots of people will see it, and it will pretty much commit him to do those races. Greg was a tremendous sprinter for Drake University back in our college days. The picture above is from the glory days at Drake. I ran with the distance guys, so I rarely saw him in practice, but I was always impressed seeing he and some of the other sprinters in meets.
These days he still runs, but the distances are a bit longer. Greg has done a couple marathons, as well as other road and trail races. Like me, the running these days is more for fun, and to keep fit. Here is a look at his schedule:
2009 Race Schedule.
Sunday, February 15, 2009 at 10:27am
Greg's schedule includes a bunch of great races, and they will take him through September. It has the benefit of giving him an idea of what kind of training he needs to every week and month. Some weeks he will need shorter distance and more speed. Other times he will need longer distance and some cross training.
I'm not so organized. I do have a general idea of some of the races I might run over the next few months, but Greg has motivated me to think ahead a little and plan it out a little more formally. I noticed that there is only one on his list that I am likely to run as well. That's the Waterfall Glen Extreme 10. There are many others I am looking at, including the Rock and Roll half marathon in early August. Maybe I will lay out my race plans in this space sometime in the next few weeks. After Boston.
There is one race I know I'd like to do, even though it falls five days after the Boston marathon on April 25th. It's the Run for Rett, that benefits Rett syndrome. The organizers are the parents of a daughter who suffers from Rett Syndrome, and he is also a teacher at my high school alma mater. This will be the 10th year for the 5k race. It's on trails at Busse Woods, a great location that also hosts many high school cross country meets.
I hope to run it (if I'm still walking after Boston), or at the very least, come out and cheer everyone on. Here is the info:
Run for Rett
Sat. April 25
5K: 8:30 AM, 1 mile: 9:15 AM
Busse Woods, Elk Grove, IL
$20 preregistered by April 17, $25 after that
Online registrationat: www.signmeupsports.com
For more information about rett syndrome:
www.rettsyndrome.orgHope to see you out there, or on the roads....
months leading up to it. But I really never think much about races beyond the one in my immediate future. 
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