As a bonus for pre-ordering the No Meat Athlete Cookbook, I was sent the Marathon Roadmap, which is an 18-week marathon training plan/schedule. I was looking at the plan this morning, and if I start training this week, race day would fall the weekend of September 23rd.

So…. I looked at what races would be going on around here on that weekend, and guess what?! The Trails 4 Tails is September 23rd. It’s a sign, right?!?! Of course it is. This is one of the races I really wanted to do last year, but alas, the stars did not align.

The Trails 4 Tails is a 40-mile race, done in five 8-mile loops around Codorus State Park in Hanover, PA. And it’s a dog-friendly race!! Not that Lucy would run with me, but at least she can be there and hang out with my pit crew husband.

I combined the NMA Marathon Roadmap with an ultramarathon training schedule, and here’s what I came up with:

That’s a lot of weekend mileage, right!?! But as the weather gets warmer I don’t mind being out there for hours on end. And since the main “goal” of the high mileage is time on my feet, I’m going to make sure to include a lot more walking on the weekends. I’m pretty sure that’s where I crashed and burned EVERY last time – not enough “taking it easy.”

Seriously, if it isn’t fun, why bother?!  I should make that my new motto :)