Once again I'm linking up with the Friday Five ladies, Courtney, Cynthia & Mar. This week's theme is Five Reasons to Race. It could be racing in general, or racing a specific distance or event. I was going to post about 5 reasons to race but then figured since I'm racing a 5km this weekend, I'd chat about that. One reason per kilometer. Clever, right?
Should I be racing? Well, that's probably another post altogether. I haven't been told NOT to run, I've chosen NOT to run. I just know that when I run, my left knee hurts when I start, then it feels fine. The problem comes after. My knees hurt when I go up and down stairs and sometimes when I walk. My PT has said it's patella femoral syndrome. So, I'm judging myself accordingly and only running when I feel ok. And even then, I'm not running for very long. I've been given a whole lot of "homework" (i.e physio exercises) to do which I will get into in a future post if that interests anyone.
Anyway. On to the fun part!
1. Less chance of injury.
If anyone should know this, it's me. This is one of the reasons I decided to focus on short distance racing next year. Less mileage = less wear and tear on your body. Fact. Hopefully that will mean I won't burn through all my extended healthcare coverage by the end of the summer.
2. Hello Free Time!
Imagine a weekend that you didn't have to go out and do some kind of long run. What would you do with your free time? You could sleep in and start your run later. Or, you could get up at your normal time but be done training to grab brunch with your friends. The bonus part, you'd still have the energy to do something else if you wanted to.
3. More Bang for Your Buck
So many people think that training for a marathon is going to help them lose weight and become disappointed when their body doesn't change the way they had hoped. I'll let you in on a little secret. If you want to slim down or maintain your weight, short distance interval training is where it's at. Short bursts of high intensity work are going to give you way more bang for your buck in terms of time on your feet. I experienced this first hand when I started doing regular track work. It was pretty incredible.
4. Pain Free Shower
Those of you that have run a marathon know what it's like to pull of your shoes and socks or get in the shower after a race. Both are done with a bit of fear and trepidation. No matter how much body glide you apply, there's always one little spot you somehow missed, that you find when you get in the shower. With a 5km you're not out long enough to do any kind of damage to any body part.
5. The Quickie Factor
The shorter the distance the faster it's over and while it may really hurt, the hurt will be over before you know it. You'll be showered and refueled before your long distance counterparts are even at the half way mark, which leaves you plenty of time to get that post race latte and make your way to the finish line.
What's your favourite distance to run?
Make sure you check out the link up. There are some great themes today!
8 comments:
5k are great because I am not sore afterwards.
Just a thought regarding your knees. I have only recently (past 6 months) taken up the sport of triathlon, having been an oft injured competitive runner previously. I have noticed that my right knee hurts quite often now, and never did prior to the biking and swimming. But I think swimming may be the culprit. All that kicking. Any correlation between swimming, running and knee pain for you? Just a thought!
LOL to the pain free shower. Once during a 15k race, I learnt that my arms sometimes chafe and that today would be the day to do so. I opted for a bath after since just being alive hurt.
This may be true, but I still love the half marathon distance best! Far enough to be challenging, but I still can run fast enough to race it!
~Wendy
I honestly can not believe I have NEVER ran a 5K race before. Everyone says it is more challenging than it seems, due to the speed and intensity that you run at. I would love to know what my time would be! My favorite distance is a half marathon, challenging yet does not destroy my body.
Completely agree about the body glide part! I went crazy with it before the half at Scotia last weekend and I still missed one spot under my sports bra.
My favorite is the half. However, I am beginning to enjoy the push of a 5K more.
@Anonymous - Funny you should say that. I've found that sometimes swimming exacerbates my knee pain even though it's non impact. I suspect it's because being in the water loosens up your joints. It depends on the workout we're doing. On kick heavy days (like when working with fins), my knee definitely feels it.
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