5K

Yeah, that's not a typo.

Me, doing a 5K? You may well ask. Short distances are really not my thing these days....I'm pretty sure I haven't run a 5K in over 10 years.

But, the running club that I'm a member of for the trail series I'm doing (the 8-miler in January, the 14-miler in February, the 10-miler and 13-miler in March, and the 50K in April....beyond that we'll see) had a 5K yesterday, and my old cross country coach was the race director.

I wanted to see him, so I decided to jaunt on over. My cousin came with me and ran (her first 5K! YAY!) with me. It was SO nice to say hi - he got a funny look on his face when I waved at him, trying to place me, then literally jumped and grinned. He's a great guy, works wonders with kids who don't have a lot of confidence in their running abilities (ie me as a teenager). He's in his sixties and still outruns most of his kids. Amazing.

The course was a fun little jaunt, it seemed SO SHORT after what I've been doing the last couple of years. I was trying to push hard because the distance wouldn't be taxing, but let's just say that I am NOT FAST any more. I still only ran about a 7:30-per-mile pace. I finished in 22:35, more than three minutes slower than my best high school time. Nothing to be ashamed of by any means, but not fast.

So I'm a little bit torn....do I ramp up the speed work and hills so I can run a 19 minute 5K again (or maybe even improve on my 17-year-old self?), or just keep at this long distance stuff?

I'm really liking trails, and the longer distance the better. So for now I think I'll keep building endurance slowly.