Now what?

Since signing up for the race at the beginning of this year, I hadn't thought too much about what I would do next. To be honest, in the weeks leading up to September 30th, I was craving a break from running. I knew I was only competing against myself and all that really mattered was finishing the race, but that's still a lot of pressure. And I'm a pretty competitive person with pretty high expectations of myself, so I wanted to not only finish the race, but do so with flying colours! I wanted sooooo badly to run continuously (no walk breaks!), finish under 2 hours and 15 minutes, and do it smiling.

And I did. So now what?

It was so immensely satisfying to cross the finish line and I had so much fun during the race (even when it was really %*&#$% hard!) that I was already scouting races for next year that very evening! It looks like our next race will be the Mississauga Half Marathon on May 11/08. And we'll be running the STWM again on September 28/08. My goal is to run the Mississauga half in under 2:12:46 and the STWM half in under 2 hours. We're also planning to run the Perschini Easter Seals 10K in May which is sponsored by our gym (it's actually 8.5K according to Gmaps Pedometer) as well as the Oasis ZooRun 10K (through the zoo!) in October! There's also A Mid Summer Night's Run (15K or 30K) in August that looks fun.

This racing thing... it's addicting.

So there you have it, the plan for next year, in a nut shell.

I've decided to sign up for a 16-week Running Room Half Marathon Clinic starting in December. Sure, I can run a half marathon already, but I didn't train for it properly. I have never done speed work or hill training and I know I need to in order to improve my time. Plus, I find it extremely difficult to force myself to get out for the long practice runs once a week. With the clinic, I'll have speed work or hill training Wednesday nights and a long run every Sunday morning with my group. The element of accountability should keep me right on track and I'll be ready to kill the Mississauga half in May!

But this means I need to buy some winter running gear. Running outdoors in January and February... I'm the last person who ever thought I'd catch myself doing that!

And, well, that's what's next!