The Flyer in the Mail

I got my Ukrops Monument Avenue 10K flyer in the mail, and have to say, it excited me to get this and just start thinking about this race. It is probably the most fun race I do. I’ve done it every year since 2005, my first year of training with TNT. Here are links to my posts for to this race in 2008 and 2009.

No matter what event I decide to do with Team in Training, I will definitely plan to run this race. I’d like to go for a personal record, although I will have to work hard to attain that. I was in much better shape this time a year ago, having been training with the marathon team for two months. This year, I’ve been mostly sleeping in till 6, doing very little running, walking some, working out a little. A 10K is not a hard race unless you don’t train for it, so I think I should just sign up and hit the roads for some training. I am finding the thoughts of those 4:30 wake up calls really tough to think about, I have to say. But there is no other way than to just do it.

Even if I do a cycle event for TNT, a 10K is short enough that I can still do run training. I’d like to also do the Shamrock half marathon, which is about a week before the Monument Avenue race, but I can’t commit to that until I decide whether to cycle or not. If I decide to cycle 100 miles, that is going to have to consume most of my fitness attention. I don’t even own a bike, so that is a big shift for me, and not something I can do unless I devote a lot of time and effort to cycle training. Training for a half marathon in less than three months would take too much away from that. But I can surely do the 10K.

It's also cool that the main charity for this race is the Massey Cancer Center at the Medical College of Virginia, and that Team in Training has a team in this race, starting last year. I like seeing those purple people in the race, and I always see friends and former teammates running or cheering. It is a great race and a ton of fun!