Impulsive moves: joining a running club and signing up for two 5Ks

Still not done with the marathon race report, but I did accomplish some running-related things tonight: signed up for two 5Ks, attended a pasta party for one of them, and joined a running club!

Tomorrow is the Freihofer’s Run for Women, an annual 5K in Albany that attract a ton of elite talent every year. I’ve been attending since I was little, and last year was my first year running it. Basically everyone in the area who ever runs even 1/4 mile at the gym always does it, so last year I figured I’d throw my hat in. Unfortunately, with so many people, the start is super crowded, so I came in with a 31:50 time even though my last two miles were around 9 minutes each. I plan to smash that record tomorrow by lining up somewhat near the front. I know that makes me kind of a jerk runner, but last year when I lined up with the 9:00ers, half of them turned out to be walkers. This year I’m targeting the 7:00ers, because I’d like to do a 7:45 pace. I know I’m just contributing to the problem, but hopefully I won’t actually mess anyone up, and a 7:45 pace would smash not only my Freihofer’s record but also my general 5K PR, which would be awesome.

However, if I fail, I have another chance… at the 5K race I’m doing later that afternoon! (Yes, that’s two races in one day… come on, you already know I’m crazy from my two half-marathons in one weekend adventure). I just heard about it 10 minutes ago while getting ready for bed, but I am so in. Basically, I went to register/do packet pickup tonight for the 5K, and I found myself chatting with a guy at the expo who was representing the Albany Running Exchange. I’ve seen a lot of the ARE – last summer I did a lot of races in Albany where the ARE was prominently featured, and I considered joining, but I was scared I wasn’t good enough. Anyway, the ARE had sent a delegation to the Vermont City Marathon last weekend, and when I found out that a bunch of people had finished right about where I was, that made me feel better. Josh (the founder of the ARE) also talked to me about their trail running camp, which sounds perfect for me. He gave me the hard sell on joining the ARE, saying that I could always run with them whenever I was in Albany, but I decided not to because why would I join a running club that’s not where I live?

However, when I went to check out the info on the trail running camp, I discovered that there is a 5% discount for ARE members, which is $14.25 off, and the membership price is only $10… so basically I’m just getting membership for free. So I signed up and am now a proud member! Their website is really cool and has a lot of chatty features that I may use even if I’m not in Albany much to run, and it seems like a great group of people. Marcy, you should totally check it out – I know you’re looking for a group! They even keep track of your race results and PRs, though mine don’t really make sense b/c the majority of my races have been outside the Albany area (they pull results from local races, but I don’t think there’s a way to add other races). That means my 5K time is that awful Freihofer’s time from last year, so there is a lot of pressure to do better.

Oh, and as for the race in the afternoon: it was listed on the ARE website (they list pretty much all the local events) and I think it’s actually organized by someone from the ARE, though I could be wrong on that. It seems to be a really small race, and my thinking is that most women will do the Freihofer’s and be done for the day, so who knows – maybe I can place in my age group! I’m still trying to find a race small enough for me to do that, though it’s starting to seem like it will take a one person race or a race only against my four year old sister in order for it to happen. Though she’s probably not in my age group for me to beat… damn.

I haven’t signed up for the trail running camp yet, because I want to double check with my manager, but I don’t see why he wouldn’t let me have the time off. I have twelve days of vacation that I need to take by December 31st, and we get an extra four days off in the summer, none of which I have plans to use yet.

Sorry for the long rambling post. I’m off to bed – need to rest up for my impromptu double race weekend.

Oh… one last thing concerning my motivation for this race. The race sponsor, Freihofer’s, is a local bakery and they give out entire BOXES of chocolate chip cookies to each participant at the end of the race. Last year we got four boxes. I know it’s not ice cream, but I still can’t complain!