It was the weekend of the Xterra Races in Richmond, Virginia and I had the opportunity to meet three-time champion Xterra triathlete Conrad Stoltz at the Richmond Road Runner Store.  On Sunday, June 14, 2009, Conrad competed in the Xterra Atlantic Cup (read the race result blog on the blood and gore victory here).

Working, personal life, and running has been keeping me away from updating my blog. I appreciate you patiently waiting for my updates about my training and running events.

In my previous blog, that got lost in the mix, I am running in the Xterra Races this weekend.  I originally intended to run the Xterra Fugitive 10K, but thanks to Jeff – an avid runner friend, Richmond Road Runner, and Courtside West gym member at our office location, he convinced me to run the Xduro 21K (13.1 mile; half marathon) race.

My initial reaction was, “…ahh…(here it comes) why not?” If I ran eight miles Saturday and another six on Sunday, I might as well run the Xduro. He inspired me to just go the distance.  I have been sticking to 10K’s so far this year and I was starting to get tired of it.  Jeff made it simple,  “It’s only $10 more, you’ve got to do it. You just have to!”  Jeff had a point, $10 more and I’d be running a 21K in less than 1 hour and a half. I’m already running, I run in my sleep. It is not just the shirt, but for the miles and experience, I will be taking in. Why not?

I was hesitant at first, because I felt the jitters and in my mind I thought to myself I really am not ready to run a 21K / half marathon.  I have not run a half/full marathon since 2007.  I have not trained enough; see below these “excuses/reasons on why I will not run more than a 10k” Excuses / Reasons why I did not consider doing the 21K:

Here at Think Fast Move Faster - we believe everyday is National Running Day. We posted this during the week of National Running day on our front page:

“Searching around for local running events, we stumbled upon runningday.org's site and on Wednesday, June 3, America will be celebrating National Running Day.  Come together as a nation to take strides toward leading healthier and fitter lives.”
“Whether you run five minutes or five miles - all running makes a difference in efforts to live a healthy, motivating, and happy strong life!“

We took time out of our day to visit our friends at Gold’s Gym in Richmond’s West End, Byrd Park - where I randomly got the chance to power walk with Richmond’s mayor Dwight Jones, Richmond Road Runners Store and Dicks Sporting Goods.  We also checked in with fellow runners asking them if they knew they were running on National Running Day and how they were celebrating such a day.

I hope you all had an awesome weekend.  Happy Birthday to my sister Nic who just turned 20 on the 29^th. Reflecting back on May, I had such a blast and experience running the three races in three days and now here we are in June! Time just flies by when you are running, literally!  I signed up for the Xterra races after making a phone call to Carol Hart of Balega Sports. As one of the site administrators for this site, we wanted to incorporate a products review page before the launch of our cyber store. We thought about it and our team was thinking

Following up on my pervious blog entry regarding running three consecutive races in three days, this week is the start of my intense diet and training discipline.

May is going to be an exciting month for runners and the city of Richmond. I am pumped up about running three consecutive running races in three days. I can certainly say I will be working extremely hard training and maintaining a well balanced diet before the May 15-17 events. I am not looking to win the gold medal and a PR would be great, but rather enjoy what Richmond running is and enjoying this experience with my two fraternity brothers, which is our first time participating in a three day event. We are looking forward sharing this memorable experience and exciting time. Here is the breakdown of the upcoming event races that will be taking place in my new hometown of Richmond, Virginia.