That little race that’s five kilometers long and often
called a holiday fun run, community race, or the ever popular “5K” has got me
thinking lately. Whether it’s for a charity your company partakes in or a
simple excuse to throw on some outrageous costume and run balls to the wall,
5Ks are overly important for our sport because they invite anyone and everyone
to the partake in the fun we as runners have all year round.
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| Memorable 5K with my best running bud Julie... before I knew what the heck a Roga was! |
I think this is why I love them so much. It’s a race that
can be what ever I want it to be. Full throttle guts out, a slogging start, a
pivotal race, the perfect training marker, or the final hump to proving I’m
injury free, 5Ks take the cake for me.
My last 5K was on Halloween, a training marker for the
Seattle Half that I ran in late November. My sub-20 finish was all I wanted to
prove that my training since college was slowly but surely kicking back into
gear. After being injured for the month of December and learning to make
friends with those I hate (hello operation elliptical), I swallowed my pride,
cross trained when I could, began lifting weights and kept a positive attitude
as much as my broken little heart could handle.
January marked new training: round 2. For the past few weeks
building a base has been back in action, a plan drunkenly mapped out in my
training log to the tune of 2 miles here, 8 miles there, and ½ a mile
for good measure. You get the picture, I believe they call it inconsistency at
its finest.
Sure it feels like square one all over again but sometimes
that square just comes at the right time and you don’t even know it. What do I
want. Why am I training. What are my goals. What are my miles building up to? It
sounds like a hot pot boiling in my brain but in reality, building a new base
is bringing me relaxation that I need right now, and I am peacefully okay with
it.
This weekend a whole flock of Oiselle birds are coming to
our backyard and racing a 5K. Community run, Love em’ or Leave em’, Valentines
Day Dash, fun-run, what ever I wanna call it, this race is to prove to myself
that I’m injury free, back on the rocker, and ready to get this lovey dovey
relationship with running all hot and bothered. And of course, another sub-20 finish wouldn't be too shabby either.
What is a 5K to you?
Are you running one this weekend to tell running how much you love it JIT for Valentines Day? Good Luck J
