Running a 5k?

This is not bragging…I repeat, this is NOT bragging… I’ve done numerous 5k’s; a 5 mile race; a 10k; a half marathon; and a sprint triathlon. The races were personal goals, the triathlon was not my idea. That went something like this:

 L: Want to do a triathlon? It’ll be fun.                                                                                  Me: Ok.                                                                                                                                                But I digress…(And yes, the tri was fun and yes, I’d do another.)

It’s been about  a year since I’ve done anything remotely related to running. As a matter of fact, I’ve never really considered myself a runner, in spite of all the aforementioned accomplishments. I’m slow. I’m ungraceful. And other than good running shoes and a Nike+ Sportband, I don’t even have good gear. But much like golf (which I’m also not good at) I just like it. A lot.

So, to get back in the saddle–or on the road, as it were–I’ve decided to do a turkey trot next month. My training started this past week. I’m already a week and a half behind in my 8 week schedule, but since it’s a 5k, I just jumped right in. Seriously, I’ve done a half marathon, do I really need to ‘train’ for a 5k??? YES!!! And I’ve reached the conclusion that there’s no shame in it–no matter what distances you’ve done in the past. My neighbor–who is on a mission to do 1,500 miles in the next 2 months or something crazy–said that the 1.75 miles that I had to do on Wednesday is more than plenty of people were even thinking of doing. And he’s right. (FYI- Overachiever that I am, I did 1.752.)

At first, I was feeling rather defeated that I’d let my weight, health, and physical fitness go so much that I had to train for a distance I could practically do in my sleep. But now, I have to say–it feels good just to be out there (or on the treadmill, as was the case on Wednesday). My times are already improving because the distances are just far enough that I can push myself without risking injury. I don’t have a goal for the turkey trot yet. I’d love to be really aggressive and say I’ll run the whole thing and do it in 35 minutes, but I’ll have to see what the next few weeks brings. I confess, I’m pretty excited. It’s been less than a week, but today I had a really good run/walk and I’m looking forward to more. I’m following Hal Higdon’s novice 5k training plan–no gym required.

So, for all you runners–even if you think you aren’t one–who have fallen off the wagon, it is just as easy to get back on. Really, it is. Get dressed. Put on shoes. Leave house. That’s it. And trust me, I tried very hard to make it more difficult than that, but it’s just not.  Just do it!