Preparing For My Next Race: A 3K!

 My next race is a 3K.

Now if you're a die-hard running enthusiasts, you're laughing at me right now. You're preparing for a 3K?  Really?

Even if you're a casual runner you're probably still laughing at me right now.  And if you're like so many people and you don't like to run at all, you're probably pretty impressed.  You're probably also wondering how far a 3K is.  

Well, don't get too impressed. A 3K is just under two miles or about 1.86 miles. Now, why am I preparing for this race? Well, I haven't run a race in a year now and a year is a really long time to be out of the running game. At least that's what I think so I need to get both my mind and my body ready to race again. 

Before we go any farther, I should be clear that I really only race against myself. I'm not fast enough to ever place. Maybe when I'm 70 and the field has thinned out a bit.

Back to what I am doing to prepare myself for this race.  Well, running is obvious but here are a few others:

• Strength Training:  I'm keeping this really simple.  Typically, my strength training involves doing lunges and squats during our daily walks around the neighborhood.  To work on my arms I'll do push ups against the stairs or tricep dips on the back of the couch.  I'll also use our weight machine downstairs to work my hamstrings (boy, do they need it) or quads.
• Foam Roll:  This has been so helpful for my back!  In the past, I've mostly focused on my legs, specifically my shins and calves, but I'm finding the more I work my lower back, the better my feet and calves feel.  I'm also working on loosening up my hips to help my Achilles which was tight during my last run.  
• Working on my Form:  I wrote a blog post about that HERE.  While I run I'm really concentrating on keeping my shoulders down, my arms low and my foot strike and less on how fast I am running or how fatigued I feel.  

Is this all helping?  I ran 2 miles recently, the longest I've run in about a year, and I felt great the next day.  Even my feet feel fine.  

I can genuinely say that I am excited for my first race of the year on October 28!

When is your race?  Tell me in the comments below!  I want to hear about it.