Women's Distance Festival

Yesterday was an absolute beautiful day to run. I ran my first 5k in about 2 months yesterday. I decided before the end of the school year to sign up for the WDF in Frederick because it wasn't a terribly long drive, it was a women's race, and it was in August. I know my limitations and I knew that I would need some incentive or motivation to begin training again.

The start to the Women's Distance Festival.

Last post, I announced that I would not be running the full marathon in Baltimore. The desire to run the full marathon is still there, it is just I hate running in the heat and I had zero motivation to run. Not to mention I had a terribly inconsistent work schedule and I kept getting called in to work more hours. That's not a big deal, but I am a person who if I can develop a routine I am fine and I can work the correct regimen in to my schedule. However, the lack of consistency left me dragging and wanting sleep more than anything. I considered myself successful if I dragged myself to the gym in evening to do the elliptical for an hour. Might I say that the Olympics helped to pass the time better than ever on the elliptical. Anyway, once I have some order to my life I should be able to train, plus the weather will be nicer.

To the finish line.

The WDF went okay, my time was 5 minutes longer than usual. I walked a majority of the first half of the 5k because it took my muscles to get used to running. To be honest, I expected it. I actually expected to walk almost all of it with bouts of running dispersed periodically on the course. However, I found myself able to run almost the full last half of the 5k. I actually counted it as a success. I could feel the strain in my legs when I was finished, it was a subtle reminder that if I planned on running all of those half marathons in October that I needed to get off of my butt and work a little harder.

The before photo.

All and all, I really liked the 5k distance which had us take two laps around FCC. It was a fairly flat course with a lot of men wearing pink shirts and offering encouragement. I like running all female races because its a lot of encouragement and the super competitiveness isn't there. Don't get me wrong, there are still women who come to play and they give it their all, but for the majority of us its about being fit and doing your best. Its an awesome feeling to get pats on the back from the faster women as they run by. I know I am slow, but its a bonding thing that is pretty cool.

The after- sock and brace in tow after it bothered me during the run

So what's next??? Well tomorrow I am going to start running more. I have another race in Frederick this weekend it supports St. Jude and finding a cure for childhood cancer. I am a big proponent of St. Jude and what they try to do. Signing up for this race was more about support and less about the need to run another race. Jury is still out on whether or not I will run a race labor day, I am leaning towards no because I have a couple of important races coming up and running is costly. Plus, I am planning on signing up for a marathon and a half marathon.

That's right, I am adjusting my goals and I am planning on heading down to VA Beach St. Patrick's Day weekend to run in the Yuengling Marathon. The time constraints are the same as Baltimore, but its not quite as hilly. The advantage to this is that the training for this race will be during the winter time. I don't mind running when its cold. I just need layers and I am planning on stocking up on compression gear, so I think I will be successful this time around. I am also adopting a run/walk method beyond a certain point and I am planning on starting at the novice supreme level for training. This integrates walking with running and takes about 30 weeks to complete. I think by March 17th, I should be good to go. So...here's hoping :-)