#5k-curious

There is an art and a science to the 5k and for most of my running life I dismissed the distance as a throw away. Just about anyone can complete a 5k so what’s the big deal? The big deal is it is hard; there is a way to beat the 5k and about a zillion ways to have the 5k beat you. I admit, I still have no idea what I am doing on there but I think I am hooked. 

The upside is unlike a marathon you can race all of the time, there is no real need to taper, recovery is minimal, allowing for you to take another swing at the distance days later. That is so liberating. With marathon training it is weeks and weeks with the singular focus on that one day. One day where you might wake up to unexpected heat, rain, illness, one day working out just right is a lot of pressure to put on that one day! Don’t get me wrong there is nothing like the marathon, nothing, but the freedom of a 5k is something else all together. 

A couple of years ago Lauren Fleshman broke down why the 5k rocks and even provided a pro/con chart for both the 5k distance and the marathon. The line that cracks me up is, “Are you 5k-curious?” Brilliant. 

My plan is to run 5k Friday this week, minus the gale force wind, and get myself a new PR. Mile 2 is where I need to make the magic happen. What I learned from this weeks effort is running a race with no wingman, when you work for the company putting the even on, is it’s own kind of awesome. My coach was there and he did not yell at me but for me. He was the one that knew I ran a PR before I did and that is just cool. Once you see you are within striking distance of the line run for your life. Once you catch your breath you can actually enjoy the evening and not going for a long run on a Saturday morning is liberating too.  

Parkway 10 Miler is coming up in a couple of weeks and as much as I love the 5k, I super love a 10 miler. Plan there is to run fast and race happy, I have put in the work to run a solid race there and that finish line is visible from long way out!