Will I See You at the Start Line Next Year?
This article was originally written for and posted in my column, The Fitness Corner, in The Macon Telegraph. It’s mostly relevant to folks in the Middle Georgia area, but hey, hopefully it can at least motivate you to start running 5ks. 😉
On Labor Day, I participated in the 39th annual Macon Labor Day Road Race 5K. This was the fifth one that I’ve participated in. Were you out there? If not, I want to try to convince you to come on out for 2016.
Now, I know what some of you might be thinking: “There’s no way I’m going to run … that’s too long.” Hey, I feel you. I used to feel the same way.
5Ks Really Ain’t That Bad
When I ran track at Jones County High School (Go Greyhounds!), we were sometimes required as part of our workouts to run a 5K cross country trail behind our school. The trail to me was a long, winding and seemingly never-ending path through trees and brush that I didn’t enjoy.
However, when my wife (then girlfriend) and I decided to train for our first Labor Day 5K in 2010, that 3.1 miles started feeling shorter.
Why? I’m not totally sure, but I have a few theories. Perhaps my perspective of distance as a teen was skewed. Perhaps I just didn’t want to do the workouts. Perhaps training with my girlfriend made me want to prove myself. Whatever the case, not only did 5Ks seem shorter to me, but I now have come to have a slight fondness for them.
So let me encourage you again by saying that a 5K really isn’t that long of a run. Most people are finished running within 25-50 minutes. While I’m at it, let me give you a few more reasons why you should start getting ready for next year’s Labor Day 5K right away:
The Labor Day race is fast: The race starts at Vineville Baptist Church and ends at Central City Park, which means that most of the race is downhill. I can’t neglect to mention the one big hill that’s between Interstate 75 and College Street, but considering the race as a whole, it still goes by fast.
There’s a lot out there to motivate you: Every year I am amazed at the wide demographic of people who show up for the race. There are many people from different walks of life who run. In particular, the age range of people who run is amazing and humbling. The very young and the elderly not only participate, but they finish well. When I see this, I know that I have no excuses.
The training is good for you: Training for a 5K provides great conditioning for your heart and lungs, and makes you generally feel good. I’ve also found personally that few things will help you get rid of extra body fat like 5K training will — given that you combine it with a good diet and a reasonable amount of strength training to maintain muscle mass.
You have plenty of time to prepare: With a year until the next Labor Day race, there is more than enough time for you to adequately prepare to run if you start today.
That’s the key. If you want to run it, start preparing right now. There are many 5K training programs out there such as the popular Couch-to-5K program. After running this race and trying a couple of new things that helped me increase my performance, I plan to write a program myself.
So do I have you strongly considering the run for next year? I hope so.
Who knows? You might go out there and catch yourself feeling ambitious enough to go for the Labor Day 10K! If you do, maybe one day I’ll join you. Right now though, I’ll stick with the 5K.
