start line

At the starting line at the 5k last year.

I’m excited about this upcoming weekend. I’m about to mark off another one of my running goals off the list by running my first 10k. I ran my first race ever last year when I did a 5k. It was a fun and enjoyable experience for me, especially since I don’t really think of myself as the athletic type. When I was in school gym class was one of my least favorite classes, mostly because I couldn’t compete well with a lot of the other kids. That, and I had a bad habit of ducking away from balls rather then trying to catch them (I think it was just my sense of self-preservation kicking in at that point). Needless to say, I never joined any sports teams or did more physical activity then I had to.

Later on after I got out of school, I wanted to get back into some form of exercise since it’s a healthy thing to do and would get me outside once in a while. So I got into running because it doesn’t require any fancy equipment beyond a good pair of shoes.

When I went to the 5k race, I stepped into an environment very different from what I experienced in gym class. From the starting line to the finish line, everyone kept cheering everyone else on. In fact, one of the first guys to finish the race turned around at the finish line and ran the course backwards so he could cheer on the slower runners. It was so different from other activities like dodge ball where people tried to take out the slowest people first.

I can’t wait to get back to that positive race day environment again this weekend. For my goal, I’m not trying to run a particular time- just run the whole distance. Which is another aspect of running that I like. I don’t have to compete with others- it’s more about self-improvement and setting my own pace.

Of course, I’ll put up a post after the race. Look for it early next week. Happy goal-chasing!

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