Hey, remember when I used to run and blog about that?

I had a rocky relationship in 2016 with running, but I’m hoping for the best in 2017. It will suck again getting started, but I know it will be worth it again in the long run.

And so, I’ve signed up for a few races. As I said, my goal for this year is to do things intentionally, so I’m trying to bring that into everything, including even pulling out my credit card (pulling out? who are we kidding? The number is memorized.) to sign up for races. 

I’m trying to not get caught up in social media race excitement and think about if I truly want to do these races.

Here’s the ones that are so far a HELL YES for me. I like that Dani keeps a running race calendar on her blog, so I may do that throughout the year.

For now…

The Franklin Lakes Triathlon is one I’m really excited for! 

A few years ago, though I discovered that long-distance tris were not for me (I started training for a 70.3, only to realize how much long rides are also not for me), I really enjoyed triathlons, and this Franklin Lakes Tri is especially fun for me — in my hometown, long enough to feel challenging, short enough to feel doable and to train for without devoting a ton of time to.

Plus, even if my running ends up sucking, there’s two other disciplines to enjoy. 

MAYBE

At work, we have a cool new partnership with Spartan — a program designed to prepare you for a Spartan race.

So…now I am thinking seriously about a Spartan SPRINT (none of that long business) at Citi Field (none of that mountain business, either.) Why? Because it sounds fun, and it’s something that scares me a little bit and sounds novel — and that, my friends, is fun. Our users push themselves to do things they never thought possible, and this is one of my I-never-thought-I-could-do-it items. If I do it, we’ll probably be doing a work team, so it will be all for funnies. (You know, with some of the most competitive people I know.)

Brooklyn Half

So…this is where I took my first and only DNF last year. I’ll admit that I got a bit caught up in the social media excitement of people signing up for the race — but I took a moment to think critically. Did I really want to do this race after a crappy experience last year? What if I had another crappy experience? …but what if I had a great experience? And I got the redemption I wanted? I’ve PR-ed here, I helped two of my favorite people run their first half here. Honestly, I will be happy just to cross the finish line of this one — to prove I’ve still got it.

What about you? What races are you signed up for — and why?