Texas races?

[oswin]

So I'm looking for some (like a couple) of races in Texas this year. I think a few of you live in Texas, so I was wondering if anyone wanted to meet up for a race? I'm in the Austin area, so of course I'm mostly looking nearby but I could be convinced to go further. I'm mainly looking at trail races, but I'd consider a road race too. The Wildflower Half seems neat: www.trailracingovertexas.com/wildflower-half/ I was trying to figure out why it sounded familiar and I realized that there's a triathlon in California that's totally unrelated. Wondering which distance to do - they pretty much have everything between 5k and 50k. Also I have no idea how to put together a training plan when my plan is something like Crossfit 2-3x/week, run 2x/week (sometimes on trails but not always), hike 1x/week (with a 30lb pack - my kid). I kind of figure build up distance hiking with my family, and focus on long(ish) easy runs when I do run, because Crossfit takes care of miscellaneous cardio and strength.

Also I may try to spectate at IMTX, since I've never seen an Ironman before. I put it on the calendar and told my husband we should drag the whole family there for the weekend.

[oswin]

Jan 3, 2019 16:03:04 GMT -5 @vtcupcake said:

Well I’m kind of biased since I’ll be lining up there with emilyj but you should definitely spectate IMTX

itsme is my go-to for CrossFit/running balance related questions, I watched her beast mode it through LaJolla for Ragnar SoCal last year.

What distance appeals to you? What distance absolutely scares you? Pick a race that’s a distance in between those two distances.

I'm leaning towards either the 25k or the 13.1. Partially because I want a distance that will push me a bit - if I sign up for the 10k I won't be sufficiently scared/motivated to put in the training. The longest race I've ever run before is 9 miles, but I've absolutely hiked 13 miles before (though not recently, but also in somewhat similar shape to what I'm in now). I may make the decision based on which day I want to do, since the 25k is Saturday and the 13.1 is Sunday. Thinking Sunday might be better because being physically exhausted doesn't ruin my work day that much, but really sucks wrangling my kids (though they'll have changed in five months).

And yeah, definitely most of the reason I'd try to spectate IMTX is because I "know" people doing it. I love reading your Iron Diaries.

[itsme]

oswin, I was using the Hal Higdon plans to get an idea of how much mileage to put in. When I was training, I was running 3x/week and using his mileage plan and doing CF 3x. Sounds like your plan is very similar. When I started running, I found that I was able to run a decent distance because I already had a few years of CF conditioning under my belt so I didn’t need to start at square one.