Since the Cherry Blossom 10 miler that ended up being a 9.5ish miler back in April I haven’t raced! The training for the Rock ‘n Roll DC marathon and quick turn around for the Cherry Blossom burned me out on structured training. I’ve been running here and there, but nothing too consistent or long. Earlier this summer I signed up for the Wanderlust 108, which includes a 5K, yoga and meditation. The 5K course is described as “more or less 5K in length” and they “provide a timer at the start and finish line, but you’re the only one who will be keeping track”. Oh and bragging isn’t allowed… only smiles… Needless to say it won’t be the most intense race so I haven’t been motivated to train.

So I decided to register for one of my favorite DC fall races, The Parks 10K. I first ran the race in 2012 in peak running shape but fresh off of rolling my ankle the day before and PR’d in 49:54 (it was my first 10K). I ran it again in 2013 a week before a rescheduled half marathon so I was in good shape but didn’t want to push it and be tired the next week. I finished in 50:55. Last year I was at a wedding race weekend so I couldn’t run.

Running a race I’ve done twice before gives me some motivation to train and try to compete with my times and since I haven’t been racing much this year I haven’t ran around potomac park since my marathon training in February. So the scenery will be fresh too. I also convinced Brian to sign up so he’ll be racing The Parks 10K as his first 10K too.

My training was going well until I got sick this week and took a few days off, but just writing this post has made me motivated to try to finish in 50 minutes.