Running, ugh

So I had a race this weekend. A 5k. Ya, that's right a 5k. Don't laugh. 3.1 miles is pretty far when you HAVEN'T TRAINED AT ALL. I was rockin' an 11 minute mile. I got passed by quite a few people pushing strollers. Seriously. And one was a double wide. For a while I ran with a girl that was all of 10. I'm pretty sure she beat me.

What does this mean?

It means I need to get my growing toochie back on a training schedule that's what it means. And quick-like before the holidays add another 5lbs of dead weight to my frame making me EVEN SLOWER.

As a little reward for my stellar performance I signed myself up for nine weeks of strength and conditioning sessions. Small group training for women triathletes, meeting once a week to work on strength and injury preventative conditioning. I think it will make me sore in ways I cannot even imagine, but I'm excited. Excited to meet some new tri-geeks. And excited to be committed to a strength plan that lasts until December. Right up to ski season. Its perfect!

This should also compliment my other latest commitment. My commitment to speed. Yes, that's right. I'm going to actually try to get FASTER. Or really, maybe it should more appropriately be referred to as "less slow" in my case. One of my speedster friends has agreed to take me under her wing for track workouts once a week. I think there may be actual running tools like stop watches involved. Ah! Scary.

I have a few more races coming up, but for the most part I've pretty much written off this season now and am looking toward 2009. I've got big plans. And preparation really needs to start now if I'm going to do it right. No more "cram session" training. I want to head into 2009 with a solid base, ready to put in real work for an awesome race season. So everything I do from here on out is with 2009 in mind and that's actually surprisingly motivating. Because there's still hope for 2009 and still time to get there.