Friday, April 4, 2014

April Fools 5K and Spring Race Schedule

Tomorrow is my first 5K of the season, a small local one called the April Fools 5K.  I haven’t really talked much about the races I’ve signed up for thus far in 2014, so I figure this is a good opportunity to do so.

April 5th, April Fools 5K: I’ll come back to this one in a few.

May 3rd, Disney Expedition Everest Challenge:  This is the event that set off my new-found interest in running.  My family is a big Disney family- we love Disney, travel there often, and always get swept up in the magic of it.  Some people understand what that means, others think my family is nuts.  Doing a RunDisney event is something that’s on my bucket list, so I decided to start out small with the Expedition Everest Challenge (EEC, because that’s going to get too long to type).  The EEC is a 5K run at night, through the Animal Kingdom Park.  The course includes a few fun obstacles and once the 5K is done, there’s a scavenger hunt that must be completed to earn your medal and entrance into the after race party.  Dan and I signed up for this back in December and until recently; it’s been the focus of my running.  I’m really, really excited to be heading down to Disney next month for my first RunDisney experience.  We’re signed up as a team, so we have to complete the run and scavenger hunt together.  And yes, in true Disney fashion, we will be running in themed costumes… My mom and dad are going to Florida with us and will be at the after party, so I’m excited that they’ll be there to watch us cross the finish line.  The EEC will be all about fun and enjoying the RunDisney hoopla.

May 22nd, Chase Corporate Challenge:  A 3.5 mile event in Downtown Chicago.  My company sponsors a team each year.  I’ve done it in the past, but not the last few years. Not my favorite event, but Thursday nights are scheduled running nights, so why not run Downtown with the Chicago skyline as scenery?

So, going back to the April Fools 5K:  I decided to sign up for this local race as a checkpoint to see how training for the EEC was going and to give Dan some experience in what a 5K race event is like.  No time goals or expectations, since I really don’t know what to expect, especially now with my shin splints.  My plan is to do the best I can, keeping a pace that’s comfortable for my legs and if I need to slow it down or bring it to a walk, so be it.

These events, plus the half marathon in November are all I’m signed up for now.  I may add a couple more events in the summer-there are a bunch of local 5K’s so I may register for one or two, and I’d like to sign up for a 10K at some point as another training checkpoint.

I’ll post an April Fools race recap this weekend, plus my Week 4 Training Summary.  Lastly, I told Dan that the April Fool’s joke of this 5K was that he has to run it twice.  He believed me for about a minute.  It was hilarious. 

No comments:

Post a Comment