September came quickly. So quickly, when August 29th stared back at me on the calendar, I realized I had signed up for no races for the rest of the year. Running was not on my mind this summer. After I ran my last race, I put running on the back burner to enjoy the summer. I still ran but took time to back away from training or any thought. I may have pushed running out of the forefront over the summer, but that didn’t mean I stopped running. I did when I caught covid, but that’s another story.
Maybe I let time slip away too quickly. Have no fear; I did a mass signing up for races before that dreaded September price increase. I can’t decide if my wallet will thank me now or later, but until it settles, my wallet hates me now.
I am ready to finish out the rest of 2022 running strong. I registered for the races, and I booked the hotel rooms. I wanted to run new races this year, but my travel ability has shortened because I now have a kid in a real school. The school schedule is demanding and unforgiving, so my races needed to stay closer to home. I am running great races, even if I’ve run them before, but I did have the opportunity to add a new race to the schedule. I do miss the feeling of running LARGE races, so I am happy to put one back on the agenda.
Here are the races I’ll run for the rest of the year:
September 18th – Kemah Toughest 10K
October 8th – Big Pumpkin 5K
October 16th – Galveston Toughest 10K
November 20th – LaPorte By the Bay Half Marathon
November 24th – Turkey Trot
December 11th – Dallas Half Marathon
I will likely add more races along the way, but these events are paid for and booked. I had some other races, but the dates didn’t match my schedule. Maybe I can run those races next year. I am excited to get back and create some running content again.
I am proud to say I’ve run consistently over the summer, even though my runs haven’t been very long. It’s been a long hot summer, and I can’t do that to myself. I’ve kept myself in a great place to improve over the fall. That’s honestly my only goal for the rest of the year.
I want to cross the finish line feeling better than I have previously. That may mean I ran faster, or I felt like I could have run more after the finish. If I smiled more along the way or ran faster in my run/walk intervals, that is all that matters to me. Look, I’m not out there to win the race. My only competition is myself, so I should have a great time while I’m doing it.
