What's next?

Immediately following Jacksonville, I've been getting a lot of "so, what's next?" from lots of my friends both runner/non-runner.  My immediate response is "my god I just qualified for Boston, let me rest" but I think they also know me well enough to know I'm already thinking about my next race....or better yet "what do I want out of my training plan?"

Answer: Flexability, fun.  Un-like last year at this time where I was chasing Boston by running 6 days/week only to crash in Va. Beach, get back up, push myself even harder for the next 11wks only to crash again in CVX, I'm now in a position where I can be more flexible in my training and still keep the base milesage in a range where if I see a race I wanna truly compete in, I can jump into a program without coming off a long lay off.  My hope is that my plan over the summer will combine not just running but more basketball, and YMCA Athletic Conditioning, and spin classes so I'm still running some but not soo much that I burn out. 

So for the foreseeable future, my plan is going to look a lot like this:
Sundays: pickup basketball at Christ School (1.5 hours usually)
Mondays: Ath. Cond. at lunch, Abs and Spin after work
Tuesdays: Heavy lift Chest/Tri's at lunch, UNCA Track Workout after work
Wednesdays: Ath. Cond. at lunch, Basketball or 6miles easy after work (maybe both)
Thursdays: Heavy lift Back/Bi/Shoulders at lunch, 8.6mi Wedge Run (tempo+beers/pizza)
Fridays: Pickup basketball before work, Ath. Cond. at lunch
Saturdays: REST (Boating, golf, etc)

It's only 3 days of running per week but 2 of those days are speed work, and with some of the fastest guys in town.  The basketball and spin classes are giving me some good cardio while Ath. Cond. not only has a cardio element but is also acting as my fine strength training for all my stabilizing muscles that help with good running form. 

Two additions I'm quite happy about going forward:

Asheville Running Facebook Page: Got added to this and it's great because people are always posting about runs and looking for people to run with.  A nice option to help motivate with lots of options. 

Wedge Runs: Thursdays were always suppose to be "Tempo" runs for me anyway but they were always the ones I liked the least due to mostly being alone for them.  Heard about this on Facebook and have been doing it for the last couple weeks now and it's great.  Basically its just a group that goes out on a 8-10mi tempo run and starts and ends at the Wedge brewery where pizza and beer is available.  Most of the guys there are super fast (2:30 marathons) so their pace really pushes me and just talking running after is motivating for me.  I hope to continue this as much as I can and hope their quickness rubs off a little. 

So that's the plan for now and the best part is I'm confident enough to change it if it's not working without panic.  I have my first 10k, post marathon, coming up this weekend so we'll see how things are going.....