New Race is here!!

Getting ready for another race

The summer went by really quick! It had been my goal to do a ton of 5Ks and maybe more 10Ks, but financially, I wasn’t able to. And physically, I have been training for a half marathon, and that takes most of my energy and time.

I’m running a 10K this Saturday and I’m really excited for it! My last race was the Library Loop, which I loved, and did my best time yet. 25.30. I have searching and searching for another race, but between time, money and being tired, I didn’t find one.

Last week I was feeling really down on myself for not having done a race in 4 weeks, and I realized that I run more for the excitement of the event than for the physical benefits…. I don’t care if it makes weird. But here are my reasons for enjoying race more than training

T shirt and Bib! – I’m a terrible hoarder of those! I have a pile of shirts that I don’t wear, and probably will never wear, but I just love them. Every now and then I just take them out of the closet, line them up and stare at them remembering those races.

The people- Everybody seems to be excited and happy to see the runners at the events. People come out of their houses to look at the runners, the wonderful volunteers are always nice and pleasant, and the organizers have only encouraging words. And the families of the runners are always so supportive of their family members; it is so wonderful to see all the social interactions.

The food- Most races have food for the post race celebrations. The smallest race I did had bananas and water, the biggest run had pizza, donuts, pretzels, beer, chips, water, bananas… we could have had three lunches there that day. I love food, even if it’s only one banana.

The competition – I am always well aware that I will not be in the top 10, possibly not even the top 50. My time is now ranging between 26-28, and I’m ok with that. Whenever my son asks if won the race, I give him the same answer “Everybody Won”. But I do enjoy the adrenaline of the race, the competition, I enjoy pushing myself to keep running, to keep moving to see the finish line!

I’m ready for the Ninja 10K!! And as always, I’m nervous, and excited. 6.2 is my now my “medium” run as I train for the half, but it will still be challenging. I can’t wait to complete that race! And m hoarder self can’t wait to add another shirt, bib and Medal (yay!) to my collection.