First 5k Ever This Weekend and New Exercise

So I know I have talked big about different endurance races/events that I would like to do but the truth is I have never been involved in any kind of competition like this...ever.

I grew up playing organized team sports: soccer, baseball, basketball, even football and hockey for a bit. I love playing team sports to this day, but this also did not allow for me to do some of the other sports that a lot of people were into like swimming and cross country/track. It even led me to disdain these things. Recently though, I've kind of switched my thinking: these activities are some of the best cardio you can get and you can do them alone. I always have, and continue to, like riding my bikes; running and swimming are growing on me, maybe it'll be easier once I'm not so terrible at them.

So...I've never been involved in any kind of official running race in life, unless you count first in First in Fitness in elementary school. That will change this Saturday.

I'm registered for the "Running Free with K-Wayne" event in Cary, NC. It's a charity event to benefit research of mental illness. I'm running in it in support of a friend who lost a love one. If you are in the area, it's certainly something that would be a healthy thing to start off your weekend with and it would benefit a good cause. You can register or donate at the website if you are so motivated.

Now for the race...I'm not too worried about the distance, especially given that I run 3.5 miles every Wednesday, but I would like to perform well, so I'm going to try to do it right. I'm going to give myself a rest day on Friday before, I'm going to try to not wake up with any sort of hangover, and will try to get up rested. I'm going to eat well (as usual, but just saying it anyways) and I will try to arrive early to warm up. I think I will try to warm up like I do for soccer games, this seems to get my body loose; we'll see if it works for races too. I think my goal is to finish in 25 minutes or under as I have done this once in my life, which was about a month ago.

Hopefully it goes well and, and as work and busy scheduling allows, I will get to do more races of all kinds in the months to come. I will make sure to report back my results and how everything went next week.

New Exercise
I've been looking on YouTube for different ideas of exercises and fitness plans to follow and I've definitely gotten some good ideas.


Here is one that I like a lot:

1. Start in plank position. (If you've never done this, it is like a push-up position but on your elbows instead of hands. Planks are a GREAT ab workout and have many different variations.)
2. Hold base plank position for a 10 count.
3. Now you will go in a rotation: lift your right arm and point it straight forward putting all your weight on your other three appendages. Hold this position for 5 seconds.
4. Cycle through all 4 appendages until you can't do it anymore: right arm, left arm, right leg, left leg.
5. Advanced: If you can do the above easily, now try to lift 2 at the same time (right arm and left leg or left arm and right leg). Hold for 5 seconds and alternate, slowly.
6. The key of all these is to remain stable and move slowly.