Serious problem

Hi, my name is Lane, and I have a serious problem. I think I may like this running thing. After finishing my first 5k race, I have taken a moment to reflect upon the experience, and came to this thought: I kind of like it. Really, I do. Here are my thoughts.

I was excited and dreading my first 5k at the same time. I had run a 5k as a workout to get a baseline of exactly how quickly I could run it. On that day, my 5k was recorded at 40:32. Not too bad, but not exactly something I want to *brag* about either. And so I was excited to see how much I improved over the course of training for 3 months prior to this race. But I was dreading this race because, come on, it is 3.1 miles. That would be considered my long run for the week. My weekly runs were in the 1-2 miles range, so this distance would be much more grueling than what I was typically prepared to do.

During the race, as I have previously written, I hated every minute of it. "Why am I doing this?" can into my head more times than I care to count. I nearly choked on the cup of water that I tried to drink. I was ill-prepared for the small hills in what I thought was a flat course. But I finished, I accomplished my goals. I want to race again.

So now I think I have a serious problem....I think I like running, and I like racing. I'm not racing to compete with others at this point. My main competitor is myself and my record. On July 17th I will be running my next 5k. So can I beat my 33:24 PR?

Another symptom of my problem is that I have scouted out the future races in my area. There are several half-marathons, but I think my for I will run a few more 5ks, maybe a 5 miler and then graduate to a 10k before I decided to train for a half-marathon. Maybe next year. But for now, here is what I am thinking of doing:

August 14th- Williamson County Fair 5k

September 18th-Helping Healing Hearts 5k

November 6th-Hoover Run for Hope 5k

November 20th-R3 Turkey Trot 5 Miles/10 Miles race (probably running the 5 miler)

So there. Now that I have put this out, hopefully everyone reading this can help keep me accountable to this training routine. I'll have to see how it goes once Joel leaves next month, but I am hopeful and optomistic that my parents can help watch the kids when I go to see them so I can get some longer runs, without pushing a stroller.