Five Thousand Meters

Let me tell you a story.

            I take my dog for a walk almost every night in the spring/summer.  He loves it, I love it, we love it.  Usually, we will go anywhere from two to four miles a night (weather permitting) and we do this in about thirty minutes to one hour.  I always feel amazing after these walks, even when Bear gets a little (okay, a lot) distracted.  A friend back in May told me about an upcoming 5k that she suggested I participate in (with her, of course).

People!  I. Am. Not. A. Runner.

            I told her that I might possibly be interested, but I was not sure I would be able to run it.  She said that we could walk it.  Did everyone but me not ever realize that 5k’s were considered run/walks?  Meaning that you can WALK it!  I was over the moon excited by this.  I signed right up.  Plus, this one sounded exciting because you got to run through the Soo Locks and be entertained along the way and at the finish line.  It was called Rock theLocks 5k.  And I got to “training” right away.  Anything to procrastinate my psych class.  I also thought it would be a great reward for quitting smoking, showing that I could actually finish something exercise-related.

            I never thought I could run.  I was afraid I would look stupid.  I thought I would struggle to find my breath and be a hot sweaty mess.  I was afraid of how I would look after.  A hot, sweaty mess.  During my training, I decided to do 5k’s daily.  Fun fact: a 5K is 3.11 miles.  Once I realized that I walk really fast, I decided to try to jog.  I always thought I could not jog because I walked to fast; however, I found out quite quickly that jogging just took adding a bounce to my walking step.  It helped a lot too that Bear likes to go fast.  Pretty soon I was interval jogging every night for about three miles.

            The day of the 5k I left my house in workout pants and sneakers.  It was chilly, so I wore a fleece.  In fact, my whole outfit sort of matched, ya know, like I planned it that way.  Which for all intents and purposes I did not.  I started out walking with my friend but told her I may have to pick up the pace.  I hit that first mile and started to jog.  I went in approximately one block intervals between walking and jogging.  It felt fantastic!  I jogged across the finish line.  I was on such an endorphin high that I did not even care about what place I received (208/260) nor what my time was (43:58).  I did expect my time as I could typically do a seventeen-ish mile with Bear.  I felt so awesome after this event that I decided to keep up running.  Plus, it tires the dog out quicker.

I signed up for my second 5k about one week later.  It was called 7 Bridges 7Brews and benefited local trails.  This one crossed all the canal bridges in the Soo and ended with a tap takeover at our local outfitter shop/bar/coffee shop.  The one-mile walk from packet pick-up to the starting line only built up the anxiety for the run.  Again, I did not care what place I was; I just wanted to beat my previous time.  And I did!  My time was 39:38 and I was 81/138 to cross the finish line.  I had so much fun!

My next 5k, for those interested, is Saturday, August 31^st, 2019, at 9am.  Its called Chasing the Dream 5k benefits the Diane Peppler Resource Center, starts at LSSU, and you can register on the day of the race.  My goal beat my time.  This one I think will be hard because I have been seriously slacking on my running lately.  You see, I had a research paper, went on vacation, and then had finals.  Another fun 5k opportunity is on September 28^th, 2019 at 7:45 am.  This is not only just a 5k, there is a bridge run, and a half marathon as well.  It is part of the Sault International Festival of Races and downtown for the Sault Ste. Marie Fall Festival.

Ok, ok, I know you are all tired of hearing about all these running opportunities.  The moral of this blog is do the hard thing, run the race.  Don’t care about how you look after, focus on how you feel in the moment.  Courage is doing something even when you’re scared.  If, however, I’ve inspired you to start your own running journey, I was kind enough to link each 5k opportunity in this blog.  Click the links to discover more about each race.  Who knows?  Maybe you’ll become a runner like me.

Stay Tuned!  And remember 30 it UP!