I'm thinking of an 8k in March

hill2302

I'm really only up to two miles now. I've never done any sort of organized race before.

I was thinking of signing up for an 8k (5mi) on March 26th. I'm a bit worried that would be biting off more than I should, but I don't know much about training or running other than you put one foot in front of the other and breathe.

Should I set my sights lower and on a 5k first?

I'd like to do this one as it would be 6 days after my 38th birthday and a kick in the face of father time.

NlKKA

Only if you're comfortable would I set such a goal. You don't want to set yourself up for failure when you are making progress. I've never done organized racing either. I'm actually training for the 5K in May and the training is about 9-10 weeks long. If you have a smartphone you can find a app that will help you train for such an event and also check in your local area for training. For my 30th in July I plan to do the 10K Run. Start small and work your way up. But if you believe and know you can be successful then go for it and don't second guess yourself. I wish you the best of luck and congrats to you for setting goals. This is the way!!!

AggieCass09

runnersworld.com has training plans that you can put in the race distance, your current weekly mileage, and how many weeks till the race and it will spit out a training plan. Then you can see if this plan looks like a do-able challenge (i definitely think you can do 5 miles in march!)

kac7700

Yes, yes, yes!! You can totally do it! Don't sell yourself short, it's only about 5 miles and you have plenty of time to train for it. But beware...organized races are way too much fun and very addicting! Just make sure you get a great shirt with your registration, that's what it's all about! :laugh:

california_peach

You can do it. Check out runnersworld.com and see what training programs they have.

slummymummy

Please, please, please go for it! 8K really isn't very far and there will be no time limit, so you can take things at a comfortable pace. The feeling you get after completing an organised race is fabulous, and there's always lots of support on the way round. You have plenty of time to get some training in, and you should probably focus on stamina instead of speed. Start out slowly and try to run a little further each week - remember to take rest days to allow your muscles to recover. Also see if a friend would like to sign up with you - training is much more fun with a partner and you'll encourage each other to get your trainers on! :happy: