
Remembering why I was running
Was I frustrated with my finishing time and that I had to walk a couple of times? Sure I was. It was a 5K, a distance I have been running for years. But then I remembered a couple of things about this race.
First, I scheduled this race as part of my “pre-season” runs, a series of 5K runs in February, March and April to get me prepped to increase my mileage to 10K’s and half-marathon training. This was only my second race of the year, the first being a fun run on New Years Day. I wasn’t going for a personal best, I was training.
Second, my family was there to watch me. I wanted to do well but my children didn’t care about when I finished. All I remembered was my daughter and son screaming, “Go Dad” repeatedly as I approached and crossed the finish line.
I realized that I was a better runner for throttling back rather than work through the pain. My reasons for running this past weekend became clearer to me;
· To prepare myself to take on the challenge of a half-marathon later this year
· To be a role model of a healthy lifestyle and exercise for my children
As runners, we log a lot of miles, and we can’t expect every run to go as planned. It’s when a run doesn’t go as planned that we need to suck it up and remember why we run.
Happy Running!