Friday, April 5, 2013

Running is fun.....right?

It's that time of the running season again: I've run my goal race, now what? After I finished the Allstate 13.1 NYC, I promptly got a pedicure, a massage, and hopped on a plane to Puerto Rico to detox. I've essentially been in training for one goal race or another since May 2012. I took three weeks off after the Philly marathon, and jumped right into the next big thing: a sub 2 half marathon training plan. Now that the training is over, I didn't meet my goal (I think I still have Post Traumatic Run Disorder when it's windy...) , and I have no race on the horizon, I'm kind of in running limbo.

I didn't run for 11 days, simply because I didn't feel like it. I did a runmute with my coworker and it went really well. I kept up with my coworker who is FAST, and it felt good to be back in my Saucony Kinvaras.

I've decided that, for the next few months, I want to have FUN while running! Here are some ways I plan on enjoying my time while pounding the pavement:


1. I'm running a virtual 5k, and you should too! Check out this virtual 5k with awesome prizes and a very worthy cause. Get your friends to hang out on a weeknight, log some miles, and grab some post run liquid or food fuel afterwards! http://runstrongereveryday.com/tag/kick-ass-5k/

2. I plan on running in fun places. Running to meet friends, running to do an errand, running to scenic places, the possibilities are endless! With nice weather coming, sunset runs are definitely going to be mandatory!

3. I plan on joining friends for runs. Notice how every part of my plan includes social running? I find this helps me catch up with runner friends, makes the miles FLY by, and often pushes me to be better.

4. I'm going to try listening to podcasts/audio books. I've heard a lot of runners mentioning this as a great distraction on runs, so I plan to try this out as someone different. I honestly have a hard time reading during the school year because that's all I do at work!

How about you? Are you in training for a big goal race? Are you racing for fun? Are you in training limbo like me? Tell me about it!

HAPPY FRIDAY! I'll leave you with some running humor. I found a site that allows you to make your own ecards, so I had a bit of fun!







3 comments:

Karen said...

I'm training for Avenue of the Giants Marathon right now. I just completed a long run in Redding on Sunday and thought of you. Didn't you say one your sister lives there?

Jen said...

The month of May will be a "no training, run when you want" month and I'm looking forward to it. I've enjoyed training, but not the fear of "am I ruining my training" if I take off a workout because I don't feel well or something.

Suz and Allan said...

I love your plan to run for fun! I don't have another half until next month so I'm looking forward to shorter runs in the mean time. I'll have to check out the virtual 5K you recommended. I always love a great virtual race!