With my grad classes set to start next week and football slowly pushing out baseball on ESPN, it seems like summer is really starting to wind down as fall approaches.

And the start of fall means the start of fall racing season!

Here's a peek at what I'm signed up for this season:

Navy-Air Force Half Marathon - Sept. 14, Washington, D.C

Emily and I signed up for this race back in March or April when we were riding out post-Shamrock highs. It's one of the few DC-area races that we haven't already run, so it seemed like a good addition to our race calendars. The course doesn't look fantastically exiting, but that's OK. I'm sure we'll still have fun.

Army 10 Miler - Oct. 12, DC

This is another DC race that I've never done because it either normally conflicts with another race I'm running or football season. But luckily this year, it conflicts with neither. My mom is coming in to town to run the race too, which will be fun. The only thing I'm a little worried about is the very, very strict no headphones rule. It's been a long time since I've run a distance that long without my jams.

MCM 10K - Oct. 26, DC

I've done the full Marine Corp marathon, but never the 10K, and I thought it would be fun to race something shorter later in the season. Plus, you still get a medal and a congrats from a Marine for finishing the 10K. And maybe I'll actually be able to enjoy the latter miles of the course, since I pretty much hated every minute of it when I ran the full a few years ago.

(So you may have noticed the military theme for the first three races of the year. And it's true...and a little bit intentional. Part of the reason I signed up for the MCM 10K was so that I could hit a race from all the major military branches that host races in DC.)

Across the Bay 10K - Nov. 9, Annapolis, MD

Driving across the Bay Bridge to get to the beach pretty much terrifies me, but the chance to run across the 4-ish mile bridge that spans the Chesapeake Bay and connects Maryland's Eastern Shore to the western part of the state seemed wayyy too awesome to pass up. Let's just hope race day isn't ridiculously cold and windy. That would make for some pretty awful race conditions.

Other races that are potentially be considered, but I haven't slapped down an entry fee yet:

• 9/11 Memorial 5K


• Philly Half


• Rehoboth Half