Goals.

Its been awhile since Greg and I have had any fun, personal goals. And while I'm not one for New Year's Resolutions, somehow this year the turn of the year got me thinking about making some changes. I decided I needed some good, old fashioned friendly competition and challenge back in my life, even if it is just a competition with myself. Bike racing is out....way too time consuming. Triathlon? similar problem. Skiing? No snow. But there is always good old running....all you need is shoes, a sports bra (and in my case, an ankle brace) and a road, or better yet, a trail.

I'm not a particularly good runner, particularly lately (meaning the last two years) but that made taking on a new running challenge even more appealing.  So I found an Xterra series trail race with 2 race options: 6K or 16K. Took me a few minutes and I pressed 'register' for the 16K. Bold move for a woman who hadn't run more than 5K in about 2 years!

Now the race is 2 weeks away and I have done the distance X1, thanks in large part to the fortuitous meeting of a great training partner. Hoping for X2 this weekend before I start my "taper" (aka we're going to Hawaii so I really don't want to have to work too hard while on vacation!) But, I'm excited. The injuries are manageable, my attitude is good and now all I need is a cool, cloudy morning.

http://www.trailrace.com/blackmtn.html

Greg has also signed up for his own little challenge race. http://navylifesw.com/bridgerun/

Its a little shorter than my event but he's in it for speed. He's recruited the "fastest guys at work" and they're pooling their results and hoping for a win, or close. He's so serious about it that we're not making his event kid-friendly this time around. The last race he did involved pushing the jog stroller but this time he'll be leaving it at home.

Stay tuned for some race reports :-)