And on we run

I almost gave up running last year.  After over 30 years of running...with the last 3 plagued by foot injuries...I was convinced it was time to tie up the laces one last time.  I'd grown tired of just slogging along;  I wasn't interested in racing;  I was fed up!

Things got to a low point at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon when I spent the Saturday at the Race Expo talking to runners about their race on Sunday.  I wasn't registered to run on Sunday...not even the 5K...and was totally bummed out.  Speaking with a female racing snob who spoke with disdain about 'slow' runners was the last straw.  On my way home that evening I had decided to quit running once and for all.

Then a funny thing happened.  As I reflected on my running over the years I was drawn back to my early competing years when 10K races were all the rage.  In those years in Toronto, Rock Station, Q107 in conjunction with Coors Light (see, even then Beer and Running were friends) held a series of 10K races in Toronto every summer.  I must have raced in every one of them over a couple of years and had my PR (42 minutes) at an overcast late summer race that ended by the water in downtown Toronto.

It slowly dawned on me that what I really liked to do was run in 10K races.  The current fads are the Ultra's and Half Marathons.  While I've run in a number of Half Marathons, I have zero interest in Ultras.  With one exception:  I've followed Navin's exploits in Ultras including how he added 8 km's to the full marathon distance at Reggae Marathon last December so he could brag that he'd run 50K that morning.  Love his enthusiasm but I'm NOT doing that!!

10K races are the perfect race distance for me.  It takes about an hour now for me to finish...I suppose if I pushed it I could get to 50 minutes but why?  At the hour pace I'm comfortable, get to listen to runners talking as they run and get to take in the sites of the city.  For 2015 I have three 10K's planned:  The Toronto 10K and the Sporting Life 10K in the Spring.  Both run downhill so I have a good opportunity to get close to the 50 minute mark without trying too hard.  And a big finish for the racing year at the 15th Reggae Marathon in Negril, Jamaica in December.

I feel re-energized already.  I'm looking forward to training runs again...heck, I'm looking forward once again to just running.

Until next time...

ThatRunninGuy

PS:  I got inspiration from my friend Dan Cumming who recently shared his thoughts on the pleasures of running:  What?  It's 2015? already!?