I Am Running an Urbanathlon
Sep 2nd, 2008 by Nut
Yesterday I registered for my very first race of any sort in my life: the 2008 Men’s Health Urbanathlon. The video gives a pretty good idea of what it’s all about, only I’ll be running it in Chicago. If you live here or know the city, check out the route here (PDF).
Why am I writing about this? Well, I’m posting a “Best Investments of all time” article at some point this week and already I know this Urbanathlon is going to be an excellent return on my investment. It’ll cost me $98 to get myself motivated, in shape and accomplish an ambitious goal I’ve set for myself. I was talking to a friend of mine from work about how tough it is to get motivated to work out consistently — he had just done a half triathlon and my baseball season had just ended. So we no longer had our reasons to stay fit. He found out about this Urbanathlon and after seeing some pictures, the video and the route I knew I was going to do it. The race is in about a month and a half and it gives me a reason to go to the gym and to run — so I can finish the race and not humiliate myself (always the best motivator!).
As a background, I am a pretty avid runner. I could run eight miles tomorrow and be OK. But I don’t think I’ve ever done ten miles (which is what this race is). Throw in those crazy obstacles and all those stairs (my first time in Soldier Field!) and that’s where the challenge lies. It’s scary because if I had to run this race tomorrow, I don’t know that I would finish.
But that’s also the exciting part: I’ve set myself a goal that requires some training and improving of my fitness on my part. Now I have a month and a half to execute that change or else…
The homepage has a very detailed training schedule, but I don’t know that I’m going to stick to it 100%. I’m going to get my miles in so that the running isn’t an issue — my biggest concern is getting my body ready for climbing that huge wall near the end… not easy after running that far!
Open an ING account and get a $25 bonus!
You could also motivate yourself by pledging money to be through StickK if you don’t make your health goals. I’ll gladly settle for $40 and you’ll save yourself $58 and be properly motivated to not give me $40
First off… congrats on even trying the Urbanathlon!
I’m also going to run my first one this year. I already did the half marathon, but my upper body still needs work. The thing that scares me the most is the marine hurdles. Thankfully, I was a spectator in the last Urbanathlon, and there are people to help you if you get stuck. Of course, I’m still going to train hard so I won’t be embarassed with someone helping me up a hurdle. Hopefully that’s a good motivator for you.
Good luck!
Thanks for the encouragement!
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