My 2019: wait, Lauren runs now?

In 2019, I'm running a 10k race each month somewhere different in the UK.

Sorry, what was that?

I need to keep reminding myself that a year ago that would have been an unbelievable statement.

Up until the start of 2018, regular exercise was something I actively avoided. I spent my childhood indoors watching television and studying all the time.

Not much changed when I moved to Edinburgh for university except that I was walking a lot more to get from place to place.

But that all changed in January 2018 when I felt the need for speed. Now I run 2-3 times a week and longer distances than I ever thought I'd accomplish.

So this leads into the following questions about my 2019 goals:

Why am I doing this?

Because it's the best idea ever. I get to see new places. I get to go on trains and use my railcard.

Most importantly, I have an excuse to eat a lot while I'm visiting these places because I need those extra calories. Or so I tell myself.

Why 10k?

This is the longest distance I regularly run. Actually, that's not technically true. Every other week, I run 6.5 miles, which is 10.5k - I track my runs in miles because metric is something I stubbornly refuse to get on board with.

So 10k isn't a new challenge for me, but it's still a challenging distance. It's an hour of running. I can't not train for it and expect to show up and just do it.

But because it's a distance I run often, it doesn't completely drain me and I still can walk around afterward - which I'd like to be able to do when visiting all these places.

Where am I running?

Anywhere in the UK, but I'm trying to keep it to places I've never been to before and I can get to by train.

In most cases, I've come across the races I'll be doing through the website Find a Race. I'm looking for races that are either in places I want to visit or the race itself has a unique selling point.

Find A Race website

I'm also looking for race descriptions that have phrases like 'fast and flat' and 'perfect for achieving a PB'. I'll settle for 'gently undulating', but I rather avoid hills and mud.

That being said, I'm not interested in achieving a PB each race. I just want to run.

Why the blog?

Mainly for my benefit. I want to remember these experiences and what I was thinking at the time, and to do that, I need to write it down.

I'm obviously giving other people the chance to read this as well, but really, I'm my own target audience.

Sorry if you don't get my own inside jokes or transatlantic references. They are intended for me.

What race am I doing first?

Carlisle Resolution 10k

Why have I chosen Carlisle as my inaugural run? Good question. We'll explore this and more in my first post-run post.

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