It’s About Quality, Not Quantity

March 24, 2016

I was out on a walk recently and listening to my friends’ podcast,  You may have heard of them #runalltheraces? Ironically, they were talking about something that I am working on this year.  Finding Joy in my running.

I am working out with weights again a little bit to ease back into it, and while I was in our work out room I hung up my 3 most recent medals from runDisney.  These were the Princess Glass Slipper Challenge medals.  I have a lot of medals hanging on the rack and they are all important to me.  But this year I think when I register for a race, it has to mean something to me.  Or I have to be prepared for it.  I went to the Marine Corp Marathon unprepared last year and I paid for it.  It was not a pretty race in my books.  I got it done and I earned every bit of that medal but I did not do my best.  I am better than that.  So now I want my races to be about the quality and not how many races or medals I earn in a year.

Today the registration opened for the lottery for Marine Corps Marathon.  I did not get accepted into the NYC Marathon, which was on my bucket list and I chose not to put my name in the hat for the Chicago marathon.  I wasn’t planning on registering for the Marine Corp Marathon either; but something tugged at me when I saw that my friend Kimberlee, who was one of the two others that I ran that race with, posted to Facebook that she registered.

I need redemption.  Now that I know what to expect for that race I can prepare for it, the key word there is prepare.  Mentally, and physically.  I know the logistics of getting around the area so I can book a hotel room again and find my way around easily.  I know what the course is like so now I won’t go into it blind to the fact that it is hilly, it doesn’t run through the front lawn of the White House like I was expecting, and I ran through conditions that were less than ideal and almost threw up 3 times, and I almost didn’t beat the bridge.  So how bad can it be if I were to do it again?  Like I said, my races this year need to mean something to me.  And I think it would be important for me to have a re-do of this race.

I haven’t registered for the new Wine and Dine Lumiere’s Two Course Challenge, and it doesn’t look like I am going to either.  I am a little disappointed that I won’t be participating in another inaugural race.  But I can’t afford to keep doing these inaugural races and then try to remain legacy status for them as well.  And with the new changes in the times of the race, it kind of lost its appeal to me.  I did enjoy the night-time race, even if the first year I ran it, there was a torrential downpour, and last year it was cut short.  I still really liked the night races at Disney.

For my 2016 races,  I have my eye on a few.  There is a duathlon that takes place in CT in May that I may want to try.  It consists of two 5K runs and a 26K (16 mile) bicycle trek through Glastonbury.  I have to get out on my bike and start putting in some miles if this is something that I want to be serious about.  I also have to do research on the races results from previous years to find out what the slowest time was for the last place participant so I know what I am up against for time.  I had been interested in this race for two years; but it always fell during the time we were on vacation.

Another race I may want to try this year is the Iron Horse Half Marathon in Simsbury.  This race takes place in June.  June is a hard month for races; because with the kids we have events going on every single weekend, both my son and husband have birthdays, and Father’s Day is during that month.  But again, this has been on my list so I hope to get to this one.

And there is one more race that I really want to get my feet into.  It’s the Summer Solstice Trail Run in Hebron.  My intent was to start doing some trail running in hopes of maybe participating in the Bimblers Bluff 50K.  I haven’t done any trail running yet so I am in no position to even think about doing a 50K trail run, let alone a 50K.  But the Summer Soltice Trail Run will be a nice introduction to a trail race if I can get out and run in some trails near home as well.

So what have I been up to?  I have been running regularly; but recently I am having trouble with my left hip.  I blame my back for that.  i think I had been overdue for my appointment with my chiropractor and so I was running with unbalanced hips.  Then last weekend I tweaked it slightly but went to see him and am rectifying the situation.  However, my hip is still giving me grief.  Hopefully after a few more visits that will be gone.  But I have been regularly on the road and when I am not running, I do get out there for walks.  I haven’t let the winter cold hold me back either!  I have been getting out there no matter what!  I need my fresh air fix.  I have also been including the kids in my walk or bike rides so that we are all getting out and being active.

My average speed has been pretty slow; but today I started doing some speed work.  I picked up the pace and had a 3 mile run with an average of 11:21 per mile.  My running has been for pure enjoyment and not so much about a particular distance or speed.  So I haven’t been hung up on my pace.  But I am running the runDisney Dark Side Challenge in 3 weeks so I do have to increase my mileage a bit to prepare for that.  Once we get back from vacation I will focus on my plans for training for these new races I am interested in.  Registrations are filling up fast though, so I need to think about what I really want to do.