One of the hardest things about reaching for Venus as well as doing 14+ races next year is trying to minimize the costs involved. We have a lot of big things on the horizon, so money needs to be managed carefully if I want to accomplish these goals.
I’ve been taking every chance I can to get the costs down:
- I’m registering early
- I’m grabbing every deal I can find
- I’m using every discount I can get my hands on (thanks, MRTT and Half Fanatics)
- I’m running mostly local races or ones where I can have a cheap (or free) place to stay
- 5 of my races are part of Beer Geek’s and my kid free vacation this year (What? You don’t spend your entire vacation running two hours+ every day???)
- I’m choosing cheaper races over big name races like Nike
So, when I saw an opportunity over Christmas to get the Frederick Half Marathon for half price, I jumped on it.
To get the discount, you needed to get 10 friends to fill out their form. Thankfully, I have awesome friends. Want to know how awesome? So awesome that I tied for most number of forms and not only got half off of Frederick, but also a t-shirt and a free entry to this…
Yep, I’ll be running 16 half marathons this year because I got a free entry into the Baltimore Running Festival. Also? My friends rock!
But Baltimore (and even Frederick) are a long ways away. Right now I’m focused on the 5 half marathons in 5 days. And, despite a wicked cold that just won’t go away and wicked cold and nasty weather, I’m right on track! My fallback week was 10 miles, rather than 15-20, but my actual training weeks are now up to the low 30s. If I keep following the basic plan I outlined, I’ll end up with a couple of high 40s/low 50s and that’s exactly what I managed last time and it worked well for me. Of course, looking at some of those weeks and thinking about just how much time I’ll spend running, makes me cringe, but I learned last time that I just have to take it a week at a time with lots of mini goals along the way.
Hope you are sitting in a nice warm house or running out in much warmer weather than we have!
the races may be cheaper and the locations good but how many pairs of shoes will this take?????
Love DAD’s comment!
I really enjoyed running in Baltimore! How exciting that you got a free entry!
That is awesome!! So jealous!!
I never add up the cost of running. I just tell myself what I am spending I will save in medical bills because I am healthy and fit now. 🙂
Awesome about the races and entries and great job with the training!!
That is so cool!!! I’ve ran the Baltimore Half Marathon and it is a good race. Somewhat hilly for me (I’m from Chicago where it is FLAT) but overall enjoyed the race. Plus, it helped that we had great weather.
Way to go! It’s so exciting to get a bargain – especially on something that you love.
lol at DAD’s comment. I wish I had my races as planned out as you. Not sure my husband would go for a vacation like that!
Wow, that’s a lot of marathons! That’s more than once a month. Do you think your body can take all that running in its stride? Pun intended ; )