Twin Cities 5K

I should probably credit my workplace's participation in the Corporate Challenge for the Twin Cities 5K for motivating me to keep running.  I already taken the first step towards becoming a runner again by blocking time off on my calendar and actually going out for a run.  I think I ran for ten minutes that first run since I had had a baby and walked the rest.  A few torturous runs later I had built myself up to running for 20 minutes - with a break at the halfway point.  So when a co-worker e-mailed the office to recruit everyone for our company team for the Twin Cities 5K, I signed up that day.  Even when I went for weeks without running because it was too hot to run mid-day during the scorching summer we had, being signed up for the race motivated me to pick up my training where I left off when the weather cooled down.  And even when I felt frustrated that I never managed to run more than twice a week, I was out again the following week.

Although it was 80+ degrees earlier this week, when I woke up this morning, the sun struggled to peak out of the clouds on a 38-degree morning.  That's a Minnesota fall for you.  I dug through the duffle bag of winter sports clothing I store in the back of a closet and pulled out long underwear, gloves, a headband and a pair of running tights I prayed would still fit.  (Thank goodness they stretch.)  Chris stayed home with the kids and I jumped in the car and made my way to the Capitol grounds, where the race would start and then worked its way uphill towards Summit Avenue.

Amidst the two thousand people at the starting line, I stood with my colleagues and teammates and waited for the starting gun to go off.  Our team consisted of marathon runners, those who were getting back into running after years-long hiatuses and those who in their 40s and 50s were running their first race.  I quickly lost them when the race started as many of them sped ahead with the fast runners.  I, on the other hand, have taken the motto of my dad's old running club, the Tortuga Golden Striders, to heart.  Start slowly, then ease off.   

The incline up Summit Avenue was steeper and longer than I remembered from running the race five years ago, but the thrill of competition was still the same.  I paced myself well and was tired when I finished, but felt great.  That was the runner's high I was looking for!  I finished in 30:38, which was about a minute and a half or two minutes slower than the last time I ran the Twin Cities 5K, but still a minute faster than the race for state employees I participated in two weeks ago.   

The race hasn't been over for more than a few hours and I'm already wondering how I'm going to stay motivated to keep active during the colder months.  It might be time to wax my cross country skis, sign up for the City of Lakes Loppet and end another sport's racing hiatus. 

To Feel a Runner's High Again

As the end of 2011 wound down, my brother asked the readers of his blog about running what their running goals for 2012 were.  My answer was simple. 

My goal is to once again experience a runner's high. After knee problems, two kids, two c-sections and no time for me as a stay-at-home mom, just getting back into running is my simple goal.

It is a simple goal, but it's been challenging to accomplish.  With weekends devoted to the kids and everything I failed to accomplish during the week, I have yet to find time (or motivation) to run over the weekend.  Since I developed a consistent routine of going to the gym over lunch during the work week, I tried replacing some gym workouts with jogs along the river.  It continues to be difficult to find time right before lunch and then hope it doesn't rain, I don't get too hungry to run or I'm not scheduled for a last-minute meeting. 

I still find it difficult to find the motivation to run when I feel the pressure of deadlines at work and the weather isn't great and my lunch sitting on my desk staring at me. I don't know what "getting back into running" is supposed to look like and I don't know when I can say I've reached my goal. After how many weeks or months of consistent running can I say again that I'm a runner?  Either way, I've started to notice that I'm craving my mid-day runs.  I actually have energy to burn.  I'm even starting to feel that runner's high again. I'm not totally there yet, but I'm getting there.