Racing day, it's (almost) racing day

At the start of 2011, I set myself of goal of running two 10K races this year. Why? I don't know really. Just to prove to myself that I could I guess.

In October 2009, I ran my first 10K, the Zoo Run and as almost as soon as I finished, I wanted to run another, but then I sprained my ankle and ended up on crutches -- and so, the May 2010 race was out of the question. So, I recovered, built up my strength and re-trained to run the Zoo Run again in October 2010.

The first time, I was so proud of myself for just being able to do it. The second time, I was proud of myself for managing to do it again when it would've been so much easier to say the hell with it after spending time on crutches.

The third time, in May of this year, I was just excited to be able to do the run I had wanted to do the year before. And it a fun one. And I did it fast too. This time, I don't know. I'm excited, but for the first time don't feel the least bit stressed about whether I can do it. I know I can do it. I may not do it as fast I would like to (afterall, the May run was all downhill, this one is, umm, full of hills), but I know I can do it.

So why do it? Well as I said, to prove to myself that I can. That I can do two runs in one year; that I can maintain my fitness and endurance level for longer stretches of time that one-year intervals.

It'll be a fun run. It'll be the very first time in three years of running that I'll have a running buddy. I convinced two friends to sign up with me -- one has had to pull out because of an injury but the other will be running beside me on racing day. I'm looking forward to it.

And when it's done, I will not only have ran two 10K races in this year, but in actually, it'll be three 10K races in a 12-month period -- because the Zoo Run last year was in October 2010 and the Zoo Run this year is September 2011. So in 11 months, I will have run three 10K races. Not to shabby now that I think about it.

So what's my big plan for next year? I have one in mind. One that I'm not entirely willing to share just yet. Because sharing means committing and I'm not quite ready to commit to that many kilometres just yet. Ask me next Spring -- that's when I'll be deciding.