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Saturday, August 11, 2012

Running

As I mentioned in a previous post I recently started running again. I was in a pretty good groove in July, but the past week has been tough with kids being home, and my husband getting home too late for me to run in the afternoon.  Still I am determined to keep at it, and have signed up for my first 5k.  Ok it's technically not my first - I did run the Corporate Challenge in Boston, but that was in 1992, and I haven't run a race since.  But it was a pretty crowded course so basically was a slow jog that ended with a night of drinking.

This will be a bit different.  It's in my town and starts at 9am (very civilized start time unlike all the downtown races that have lots of traffic to contend with.)  A friend of mine who lives in DC has been posting on Facebook about all these great races that she has signed up for, and I've found a few cool ones on my own too.

Hot Chocolate
A 5k or 15k in November where you run for chocolate

Color Run
A early summer 5k where you get sprayed with colorful powder at each checkpoint and at the end you look like a sunning Jackson Pollock painting.

Glo Run
A nighttime race where you get outfitted with glo in the dark shirts run through black lights and other "extreme glow". There's a dj on the course as they discourage ipods, so you can hear what's going on around you.

Overall my hope is to run a half marathon within a year.  My Mom was diagnosed with MS 6 years ago and for a while I was considering walking the Chicago Marathon as a fundraising effort.  I have never wanted to run a marathon but figured I could probably walk it.  Of course there are time limits on the course, so after two many cons I decided to do a half marathon instead and just do my own training and fundraising rather than being part of a team.  It'll make a it a little harder to stay motivated but I think I'll be able to do it.  The problem is picking a good one.  The Chicago half happens to fall on my Mom's birthday next year so that's a possibility, but would be tough to train unless I become a good morning runner.

Any with any big goal, the best way to go about it is baby steps.  I have added a page of running goals to keep me on track.  I also love my endomondo app.  I'll do a separate post on that - but it keeps great stats (including some goofy ones) and tracks my course by GPS.  I also have a few friends on it who occasionally send pep talks as I am out which is always fun.  But what really keeps me going is my kickass mix of Bon Jovi music.  Their tempo is perfect for my pace.  So far this list gets me through my run.  I cool down to Just Older ; )

5 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing some of these. I'd LOVE to do the color run! I've seen so many pics of it online and it looks amazing. It's my dream to run the Chicago marathon...don't know if it'll ever happen, but it would be great :) Good luck with your training!
    --Becky
    preppypremed.blogspot.com

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  2. The color run seems really fun. I hope to do it at some point.

    I wish I had known about all these fun runs when I lived downtown. Getting down there for the early starts is tough.

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  3. The color run seems really fun. I hope to do it at some point.

    I wish I had known about all these fun runs when I lived downtown. Getting down there for the early starts is tough.

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  4. These runs look cool! I just noticed your Ipod is full of Bon Jovi music. I am a total Bon Jovi fan. I love to play Summertime whenever the weather is great.

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  5. I love Bon Jovi (always have). Their songs are great to run to. The tempo is perfect for my pace, and the way they build is great for interval running.

    Summertime is definitely one of my favorites of their newer songs

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I love all your comments, but admittedly have been a slacker about replying to all your kind words. I've recently received a bit of spam on my posts so will now be moderating any comments - and not allowing anonymous commenting. I hope that will help me stay on top of replies.