"Racing" season has begun - Shamrock Shuffle 8K this morning

"Racing" season begins today.  I saying "racing" because what I do is not really racing.  I participate.

Anyhow, today is the first race of 2011 for me.  This morning I'll be running in the Shamrock Shuffle 8K in downtown Chicago.  There are supposed to be 30,000 runners.  That's the main reason I signed up for this run.  I wanted to experience a big race.

My goal for today is very easy: finish without running in 60 minutes or less.  That's totally doable.  I can run 5 miles in 60 minutes.  I've done it this year in training.  If there is a challenge today it will be maintaining a good pace.  I may start slower because of the crowds and I may prematurely speed up and try to run too fast because of the faster runners in the crowd.

I'm taking my ipod but I'm going to keep it off for the first 1/2 to 1 mile.  I'll turn it on a bit later.  I will posts my reactions and some pics shortly after the race!

Now it's time to get ready and then it's off to the race (sort of)!

Slow start to a 600 mile year

I am going to run at least 600 miles in 2011.  That is one of my goals for 2011.  I expect to hit this goal.  I might even exceed it.  But alas the start has been painfully slow.

In fact the end of 2010 seems to have bled into 2011 with bad eating and a lack of motivation.  It's all mental.  The lack of some significant short term goals is making it too easy to slack off.

Thankfully the slacking is generating so much angst that I constantly feel uncomfortable.  This, in turn, is forcing me back on track.

Consider me back on track!

I've formally signed up for 2 8K races - the Shamrock Shuffle (4/10/11 in Chicago, IL) and the Race to Stop the Silence (4/23/10 in Washington, DC).  I still need to pick a half marathon for the summer.

I need to run a half marathon in either June or July.  I'll be fasting for the month of Ramadan all of August but I've got the 9/11/11 Chicago half marathon about 2 weeks after I finish the month of daily fasting.  If I can do a half marathon in late July just before Ramadan then I can use the 4 weeks to recover and still maintain my stamina for the next half marathon (or so I think).

It feels a lot better to have races lined up.  Hey, whatever works!