I didn’t realize that my last post was my first post in almost 3 years!!! Woah! Where the heck did that time go? I decided I’d catch you up on my races since we last chatted and I think I can do it in one post, considering there haven’t been many and a lot of the details are foggy so they aren’t my typical race recaps. So, let’s get into it!

I’ve only completed 3 official races since COVID began (for a list of all my races, click here):

• Frosty 3 Miler and Reindeer Run (Stafford, VA) – 12/11/21 – 3 Miler – 31.04/10.22 pace
• Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Race (Washington, DC) – 4/4/22 – 10 Miler – 1.41.02/10.07 pace
• Run for Hospice (Leonardtown, MD) – 4/23/22 – 10k – 1.03.13/10.10 pace (unofficial time)

The Frosty 3 Miler and Reindeer Run just happened to be taking place right outside of one of Gabby’s swim meets. It was so convenient and another one of my runner friends (and swim mom) was running it so how could I NOT run it?? I was honestly pretty nervous considering I hadn’t been running much at all, let alone an actual race! The course had some rolling hills, but nothing too unmanageable! Tamara is a rock star so I couldn’t keep up with her, but I finished and it was a great way to pass the extra time at a swim meet! And it was a nice short race to dust off the cobwebs!

Experiencing that rush of adrenaline at the finish line of the Frosty 3 Miler was enough to convince me to sign up for the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler that had been originally scheduled in 2020! And Sam signed up as well – woot woot!! I decided to commit to an actual training plan and began training in early 2022. I aimed to run 3 times a week; 3-4 miles on Tues & Thursday and a longer run on the weekends (gradually increasing the distance). I didn’t stick to the plan 100%, but I made it to 8 miles before the race and completed a lot of those training miles with Sam! Race day was so fun!! We got there in time to take a bunch of fun pictures before the race. The weather and course were beautiful! I went in with absolutely zero expectations, but I ended up feeling pretty good for most of the race and was pleasantly surprised at my finish time.

My family had participated in the “Run for Hospice” race for several years, until of course COVID canceled all of our race plans in 2020 & 2021. We were so happy that an in-person race was scheduled again in 2022. And since I had recently completed the Cherry Blossom race, I figured I might as well sign up for the 10k. My mother-in-law and her friend participated in the 5k walk and “boy Sam” also raced. Steven and his father came along to cheer us on! I remember feeling like this race was really, really tough. The hills really got me and I just remember feeling ‘not well’ for most of the race. I took quite a few walk breaks, but tried to keep them short. My overall pace wasn’t bad according to Map My Run so I’ll take it (I love this race, but for some reason my clock time and chip time always match on the results page, which is inaccurate so I go with my MMR results).

So, there you have it! Not much to report on the race front over the past 3 years. Part of me wants to sign up for a race this year, just to have something circled on my calendar to train for, but I also don’t have the race bug like I have in the past. I definitely don’t want to rush into any long distances this year. I’m just starting to get back into a decent running groove, so I suppose I’ll see where that takes me!

Do you have any races or specific running (or other fitness) goals for 2023? I’d love to hear them in the comments below 🙂