5k Runner in the House!

Posted by Cynical Sarah on June 2, 2010

More than a month ago I signed myself and my husband up to do a 5k run. My plan was that if I signed up to do it, and paid money for it, then I’d have to stick to a plan for the next seven or eight weeks to get ready for it.

On Sunday, May 30, that plan came to fruition as I ran the PMC-Sierra Science Fair Fun Run. Best $35 I’ve ever donated to a cause since the result was that I actually stuck to a workout plan and met my goal of jogging the whole darn 5k. I won’t say yet that I’m a “runner” since I’m not sure there’s a big difference in speed between my power walking and my version of a jog.

I’m also pretty sure that real runners get some sort of enjoyment out of the act of running. I’m not sure there’s any point in my run when I feel like I’m enjoying it. I like the after affects – the weight loss, the ability to walk around or go up stairs without feeling completely wiped out – but the actual act of running pretty much feels like any other sort of exercising for me.

There is no joy in the act, only relief in the finish. And still, after 34 minutes of running, there is still no runner’s high.

So really, it’s quite an accomplishment of willpower to not only stick with training to run for several weeks but to then run 34 minutes straight to jog an entire 5k.

I’m not just giving it up now that I accomplished it though. According to my Couch to 5k program, I still need to finish up with two more 30 minute runs this week to complete the program.

Today I ran one of those in the pouring rain. Perhaps my biggest triumph isn’t running the 5k, but finding the willpower to stick with this thing even when it’s raining, or hot, or I just don’t feel like doing it.

I will need to find another motivator to keep me going too. Perhaps another 5k toward the end of summer. I’d like to think I can do a 10k next summer, and I’ll have more time to figure out what causes I might like to support when I do my run.

My husband made fun of me a little bit for choosing to run for ScienceFairsBC. He said something to the affect of there being starving children all over the world and disasters and whatnot, and I chose to support science fairs.

First of all, it was the first 5k run I found that was at a reasonable date for me to train for. But the more I think about it, the more I don’t mind that that’s what my money was going toward. Basically I’m supporting education, and extra education support in schools.

You can’t go wrong with educating kids. Maybe one of those kids will be inspired and be the person to cure cancer, or solve the world’s energy problems, or build a better mousetrap.Even better, find a way for people to be healthy and fit without needing to run all the time.

Now that’s a cause I can get behind.

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Tags: 5k fun run, fitness, health, jogging

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