3 Things Thursday - First 3 Races of 2012

RACES
One way to get out of the winter doldrums is to sign up for races!  I'm excited about my first 3 in so many different ways.  


Here are my first 3 races of 2012.

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1.  Virginia Is For Lovers 14K, Virginia Beach, VA - February 11, 2012.  I'm REALLY REALLY excited about this one because I get to run it with The Hubs.  As in crossing the finish line together as a couple, at MY pace...!!!!  The Hubs and I  have run the same races before, but this will be the first time that we will run side by side and finish together.  He is much faster than me.  His half marathon PR is 1:48:something, while mine is 2:24:something, so he always finishes first. 


So while this race fits in well with my RnR half marathon training, it will be a "fun run" for The Hubs.  Before signing up, I kept asking him, "are you sure, are you sure?"  We looked at maybe having him finish the race at his pace and then back-tracking to meet up with me and then running the rest of my race at my pace.  When we compared our half marathon time splits, we discovered that by the time he finishes 14K, I would only be at.....the 10K mark, if I'm lucky...realistically, probably somewhere between Mile 5 and 6.  (WOW, I'm slow).


But The Hubs said, "Nah, forget it.  I want to run with you."  With you.  With me.  Sniff.  O.M.G. He loves me.  Sniff.

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2.  Carefirst Rock 'N' Roll USA Half Marathon, Washington DC - March 17, 2012.  I almost forgot I signed up for this race until I went to my March 2012 calendar page when signing up for another race.  I signed up for this one last spring/summer.  I've always wanted to run a RnR race and with The Hubs claiming the RnR race in Virginia Beach later this year, I grabbed this one.  Mine!  Mine, Mine!


I'm both excited AND nervous about this one. I'm excited because I'll be running with some of my Ragnar Relay DC 2011 team mates.  We were so pooped at the Ragnar finish line that we didn't get to celebrate afterwards.  The celebratory beer made us more sleepy than triumphant.  So this race will make up for that.  Two team mates will be running the full and 3 of us are running the half.  


I'm nervous because it's an inaugural race, and after all the scary stories coming out of the last RnR Las Vegas race, and the "epic-fail" reports on the inaugural Hot Chocolate 15K/5K Race in DC, I am hoping that this inaugural RnR race will meet everyone's realistic expectations.  (Crossing fingers and staying positive).

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3.  Scope it Out 5K, Washington DC - March 25, 2012.  I'm running this race with my girlfriends!  I've been helping them train for this race, their first 5K race, and I'm so excited for them!  Most of my friends are new to running, some are struggling to get passed running non-stop for 6 minutes, and some are trying to get back to running after a very long break.  I'm looking forward to watching each of them cross that finish line and feeling the way I felt when I crossed that same finish line 3 years ago - with smiles, tears, and that wonderful feeling of "OMG, I did it!  I really did it!"


Yes, it's exciting, I get to re-live MY first 5K race, this exact same one!  Three years ago at my first 5K, my friend, Margaret, stayed with me the entire race while I struggled to keep running.  If it wasn't for her, I would not have finished that race running the whole way.  Yes, it was THAT hard for me.  


So this race is going to be all about my friends.  Here's to hoping this won't be their last race!




Your turn.  What are your first 3 races of this new year?  Please share!  Oh and anyone else running my first 3 races?