Arrrrgh ya ready to run?!

I did it!  I signed up for my very first race!

Remember my 2012 Goal to run a 10K?  Well, I'm not quite there yet BUT I'm on my way!  I signed up for the Gasparilla Distance Classic 5+3K on March 4, 2012, that's exactly 6 weeks from tomorrow.

Here in Tampa each January we celebrate the Gasparilla Pirate Festival. It is, well, how do I explain this?  Hmm..

(Going off on a tangent here for the purpose of explaining Gasparilla....)  It's a pirate festival where every year a "Mystic Krewe" of Pirates takes over the city.  The Spanish Pirate, Jose Gaspar, and his crew land their ship in Tampa Bay near downtown and then invade (or actually, parade) down Bayshore Boulevard.  Apparently it's a little like Mardi Gras, but I've never been to either.  Drinking and debauchery ensue.  We're looking forward to attending our first Gasparilla Pirate Parade next weekend!

Anyway, Gasparilla is a big thing here in Tampa and as part of the festivities there is always an annual Gasparilla Distance Classic.  Well, the big news is, Brian and I are registered to run the 5+3K (basically, an 8K) or 4.97 miles!

I regularly run 3 mile distances so I know I could have run a 5K easily by the first weekend in March so I wanted to really push myself to do a further distance than I can now run.  I wanted something to really train for.  I've set myself a speed/time goal and it's definitely going to be a challenge for me but that's exactly what I need!

I've got a training schedule and everything.  Today was speed drills.  Sooo glad to be done with that until my next next speed workout a week from today!

Wish me luck as I start training for my very first race, I am so excited!