run the Pear Blossom next Spring

Well I ran the Pear Blossom 5k this year with a friend who has just recently started running. She has actually inspired me to run more races, and to work up to running the 10 mile next year.

Though I haven’t been running very much, playing hockey has kept me in pretty good shape, and I have been lifting weights and eating well. So I ran the 5k no problem. I don’t think 10 miles is totally out of reach. It’s almost a year away, so it’s doable!

Maybe I will want to do this at some other time… but right now distance running is not something I want to do. I want to work on cardio and strength training, but I’m not sure if running is where it’s at. I think I’ll have fewer knee and hip problems if I mix in more elliptical/bike/(possibly)swimming. Maybe I’ll run some more 10Ks, but maybe not 10 miles. Maybe I’ll run the Pear Blossom 3 mile run next year!

Well, it’s not gonna happen this year. I let myself quit running for a while and just started up again. I ran a mile today and my lungs were BURNING. I’m going to be running almost every day, and I’m also doing weights and going to be learning how to ice skate for hockey pretty soon – my goal now is just to get in shape and feel better about myself. But I might be able to make enough progress to run the 5k race of the Pear Blossom. The 10 mile? Maybe next year. I couldn’t even run 10 miles when I was running consistently last year…

The race is on April 8th. I need to register by March 15 – that’s in three days. Think I can work up to 3 miles by April 8? Hmmm…. Maybe I’ll find some other out of shape suckers- errr, friends to sign up with me and we can challenge each other.

Still need to get new shoes! But I can’t afford it right now. (Taxes!)

I hurt my knee preparing for a 5k race (don’t know why it started bothering me then…) back in October… September? When was that?

So I decided to stay off of it for… too long. I don’t think I ran for more than a month. I’ve been running once a week for a few weeks now and I can barely go a mile. I don’t think it will take me long to work my way back up, if I could only get myself to keep doing it and doing it more often.

My knees… I need to buy new shoes, I think. And maybe do some more strength training and low-impact cardio mixed in with the running.

Now that I’ve completed my first race, my next big goal will be to run the 10 mile Pear Blossom Run next spring. I need to improve my endurance so I can run faster. I realized during the 10k that I get a little asthmatic if I try to push myself too hard (I haven’t had problems with it since I was a kid).
So I am going to join the YMCA, run and cross train all winter, and be sure to monitor my heart rate when I do long runs, and build up slowly.