Hot Times, Running In the City

It's mighty cold.

Like, 22 degrees out cold. So what on earth is my entry title referring to? The Peachtree Road Race, held every July 4th in Atlanta, GA--the world's largest 10K,* and a race in which my sister and I will be participating.**

*Apparently, not so anymore; the Peachtree has been surpassed as the largest 10K by the Vancouver Sun Run. What can I say, it's a big year for Canadians.

**Participation does depend on whether or not we are able to register for one of the 55,000 spots available. I'm hoping we do!

Online registration takes place during the last week of March, so you can bet my sister and I will be signing up as soon as the web page loads :) She's run the Peachtree before, and while I (obviously) have not, I'm really looking forward to it! Plus, it'll be my goal to train so that I can run it the whole time.

While it's only a 10K (around 6 miles for those conversion-phobes), it's not a flat course and it is set in Atlanta in July, so the Peachtree will pose challenges that the Disney Marathon did not. I, for one, will be glad to not run in 20 degree weather--though I may regret saying that, knowing how hot it gets in the South during the summer months...

For now, I don't really have a set training plan; I'm really just getting used to working out again, and enjoying it! I think, once registration happens, I'll start following a more structured training module, incorporating a lot more outside workouts and incline training (apparently mile 5 is uphill, yikes!).

It'll feel awesome to have a big plan to follow :) I have found that, even though I'm all creative and free-spirity and awesome, I occasionally crave order. Weird.

In conclusion, I've decided (what with my fervor for the Olympics) that I will be ending my posts (at least until the Winter Games are over) with fun facts relating to Canada, the Olympics, and hockey.

Today's Fun Facts:

1) Vancouver was named for Captain Vancouver, which is just awesome. "Captain Vancouver." Heh.
2) No country in the Southern Hemisphere has ever hosted the Winter Olympics.
3) Hockey is the best sport in the world. FACT.

Best,
Captain Vancouver

What's Next?

I'm really eager to start training again. For something. Anything!

While searching for inspiration, I have had recommended to me quite a few interesting challenges I should attempt: the Iditarod, the Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest, triathlons, etc.

While I do enjoy hot dogs, I fear the annual eating contest might set me back, as far as a weight loss goal goes :) That, my friends, is one of my upcoming goals--this will be elaborated in my next post.

There is a yoga studio not too far from where I live that has a 30-day Bikram Yoga challenge, which I'm very interested in trying (though perhaps I should do one day's worth to see if I like Bikram, first)!

Aside from weight-loss goals and yoga challenges, I really am very interested in new races I can attempt. I came across a great site the other day, Running In the USA, where you can search by state, month, type of race, etc. It's a wonderful resource if you're looking to find something nearby, or are planning a vacation and want a marathon in the middle of it. For the fun.

Seriously, though: my sister and I are definitely signing up for the Peachtree Road Race in July (the world's largest 10k road race), and I'm looking into the Inaugural Wine and Dine Half Marathon in October. I encourage you to check out Running In the USA, just to see what races are near you--you might be surprised at how many are going on!

Oh! And here's some exciting news: I am typing this entry on my new computer, whee! It's a happy little laptop I've decided to name "Thinky." Yes, folks, anthropomorphizing inanimate objects is fun. And see how many big words I just used? "Thinky" is making me smarter already.
Cheerio!