When the Cows come home

…….Yeah, that’s just about the time I’ll be crossing the finish line at my next race.

For my October race choice, Ive decided to go with the Urban Cow Half marathon, Relay and 5K race.

Held in an area near the state capital of California in Sacramento, the Urban Cow marathon looks like a fun little race. If it’s anything like it’s name, how could it not be?

I’ll be doing the half marathon distance (21km-13.1 miles), though the 2 person relay race looks like a lot of fun too. Hopefully the weather will be nice in the morning. ( Central California temperatures tend to rise quickly during the late summer months).

Some of my racewalking buddies are probably going to be a little ticked at me for not doing the San Jose Rock & Roll half marathon with them ( held the same day), but I really wanted to do a half marathon this year in a smaller venue and a little closer to home. The Urban Cow has a 6,000 person limit for the half marathon, about a third of the size of the San Jose race. It also seems to have more of a local and country flavor to it, which I really like.

Training for the race began for me a week ago with a 7 miler, and will continue for only 4 more weekends. Preparation will consist of long slow distances walks on Saturday mornings followed by short distance racewalking ( 4 miles), 3 times a week.
A month and a half of training is probably not enough time to prepare properly for a fast half marathon distance, but I’m fairly confident it will be sufficient to get me to the finish line in under the time 3.5 hr limit, which is all really all I want.

Btw, This will be my 13th, 13 mile race in 5 years. ( good thing it’s not happening on a Friday the 13th, that would really be freaky!)