March 19, 2011

Running Plans for 2011

...are still very much up in the air. Had some BIG TIME changes at work back in January which basically turned my schedule upside down. Things are still falling in to place, but my training has been haphazard and as a result, there is no way I will be running Chippewa 50K next month, even though I'm registered. The only race I've currently committed to is Afton (and I noticed - to my horror - that I am now in the "Senior Master" division).

Having a "big birthday" has created some other havoc as well. Being self employed, I have to purchase my own health insurance. So, imagine getting a "Happy Birthday" letter from Blue Cross letting me know that since I'm now 50 years old, my monthly premium will be going up more than $100/month, and....get this... it will now cost more than my mortgage (this is with a high deductible plan, by the way)! I wish I were kidding. And I have a clean health history. I tried to explain to them that it wasn't really my 50'th birthday, but the 21'st anniversary of my 29'th birthday. They didn't see it that way (those people have no sense of humor at all).

Anyhoo, between work changes and health insurance premiums, I need to cinch down the check book and stick close to home. I'm considering the MDRA Mudball 4 mile (I actually won my age group the only other time I ran it - when I was simply a master rather than a grand master). Fun race at Wirth Park and free to MDRA members. I may even try it barefoot since that's the only type of running I've been doing the last few months anyway :)

Hope to get my old and wrinkly ass back out on the trails for some respectable mileage soon!