This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, but there is no additional cost for you. Please see my Disclosure page for more information.
I ran cross country in high school and ran a number of community 5ks in high school and college. That is, I did until I got sick. I didn’t do much of anything for several years, and I didn’t start running again until after Sunshine was born. A friend and I trained for the Disneyland Half Marathon, which we ran when Sunshine was about 16 months old.
In the years since, I’ve gradually increased my running and have signed up for races to help me stay motivated with my training. In 2014 and 2015 I increased my race goals to one race a month, which was especially motivating since I was trying to get into shape after having River, and then trying to stay in shape while pregnant with Ocean.
In 2015 I read about a woman who completed 40 races in the year leading up to her 40th birthday. At the time I was 37, with 40 looming on the horizon. I liked the idea of completing 40 races before I turned 40, but I knew that our schedule wouldn’t allow me to do so in one year, especially since at the time I was pregnant with our youngest son, Ocean. After some thought, I decided I could complete 40 races in the two years before I turned 40. A week and a half after I turned 38, I ran (ok, walked, because I was 38 weeks pregnant) the first 5k in my quest to complete 40 races before my 40th birthday.
The 40 by 40 race experience has been a great one. I’ve run races that have been on my to-run list for years and I’ve run a variety of races: road, trail, glow, corn maze, costume, color, obstacle, mud, in a winery, and so on. I’ve gotten out of my comfort zone and expanded my horizons.
But my training has suffered. I was running so many races that I just didn’t have the time and energy to think about strategy and training. And my race times reflect that. They were not nearly as fast as I was hoping for, and they weren’t showing improvement.
At this time, my 40th birthday is still three months off, but I’ve already achieved my goal of 40 races. In fact, I ran race #40 back in November, 7 months ahead of schedule. Yes, I may be a little bit of an overachiever. However, once I hit 40 races I cut way back on my race schedule to focus on training, specifically for a half marathon.
I’m capping my 40 by 40 goal with a half marathon the morning of my 40th birthday.
Doesn’t that sound like a great way to celebrate my achieving my goals and my birthday?
