In Search of. . .10Ks

Race season is, sadly, winding down for me. It's not that there aren't still races to select every weekend, almost through Christmas, it's just that other things get in the way this time of year, and racing a 51-year-old body every weekend just isn't wise.

Still, I have registered for some perennial favorites, including the Baldwinsville Kiwanis Turkey Day Races. Back in the day, this race featured three distances--5K, 10K and 10 Mile. Oh, how I loved that 10 miler, with the pre-dinner calorie burn. I suspect the difficulty in getting enough volunteers for all three races put an end to the longer distance. They kept the 10K, thankfully, and that's still a pretty substantial distance.

Then there's the Burn Run, which benefits the Clark Burn Unit at Upstate Hospital. The flattest 5K around. I was planning on signing up for the 3.1-miler, but once they announced the addition of a 10K this year, well that sealed the deal for me.

Do you sense a pattern here?

As much as would like to run another marathon, 26.2 miles remains a daunting prospect. The half marathon distance remains my favorite, but it's a lot of work getting ready for one. And as much as I enjoy the speed of a 5K, I find them anticlimactic. If I'm going to put in the training, and drive the distance to the race site, a 5K seems hardly worth my time. (Those of you 5K lovers out there, I'm merely speaking for myself; no offense is intended.) In fact, I have a loose rule about 5Ks--if it takes longer for us to drive to the race site than it will for me to run the race, then I'm not inclined to pay the entry fee, or the gas.

So next year, I plan on focusing on racing as many 10Ks as I can find locally. Don't get excited--they're not at all easy to find. I can think of a handful in the spring--Fort to Fort in Rome, Skunk Cabbage in Ithaca--wait, is two a handful? See what I mean? What is it about the 10K race distance that has rendered it so elusive? I think that's a topic for a more substantial item than a blog post, and perhaps I'll tackle it in a different forum.

Still, racing 10Ks in 2013 is my plan, as far as road races go.

I have some holes to fill in the triathlon schedule, even while I have plotted what distances to race when.

First off, my "A" race will be Big George, a half-ironman distance race that takes place in and around lovely Lake George on Sept. 1, Labor Day Sunday. After that, the plan is to run some half marathons (maybe even a full) and keep seeking out 10Ks. Before that, I'm looking at a sprint distance tri (or two) in June, an Olympic in July, and a sprint or Olympic in August.

Ever open to suggestion, if you know of any 10Ks within upstate New York--Ithaca and north, Albany to Buffalo, please leave a comment.