Way back in 6th grade, (maybe it was 7th, it was a long time ago) I would run home from the bus stop every day. Literally, the moment my feet went from bus step to pavement, I would take off and run full bore for about 1/4 of a mile and not stop until I reached the safety of my doorstep. One time a classmate asked me why I did that day after day and I answered, "I like to run!"
Years and years later, I still like to run. A lot has happened in my life since middle school: I have gone through various stages of employment (and unemployment), I avoided higher learning and then embraced it, and I morphed into different body types, from skinny to fat to skinny again to my current Husky-But-Still-in-Pretty-Good-Shape uh, shape. Yet, surviving all of the peaks and valleys of my life has been my jones for running.
Running is the purest form of human competition. There are no balls, sticks, or any other sort of ancillary equipment. All you have is your body and the game is to propel it as fast as you can go for a predetermined distance. Nothing is more basic than that. Or more difficult.
The distance of choice for me is the 5K, or the 5000 meters, equivalent to 3.1 miles. Sprints are over with too fast, marathons are ridiculously long and require massive amounts of training just to be able to complete one. But 5K's can be done by practically anyone and the race is over within 20 to 30 minutes. The rest of the day is not spent recuperating. A 5K is, to me, the perfect distance; endurance is important, but the emphasis is on speed. People who run long-distance races call themselves distance addicts: "How far can I go?" But I am a speed addict. How fast can I go?
Another passion of mine is writing, so combining that with running has resulted in this blog. I first want to say that this will not like other running blogs I have seen. A lot of runners are narcissistic jerks and all they write about is how they killed a 110-mile trail run in Tasmania, their new pair of Vibram Five Fingers, or how they haven't eaten food with gluten in five years. Dean Karnazes I am not.
As the blog title states, I am an average person in every aspect of my life, especially when it comes to running. I have an average body (I'm being kind to myself there) and thus, my race times will be average. My times have gotten better since I started running competitively a year and a half ago; my personal best is over five minutes faster than my first 5K.
Which brings me to my main running goal: to run a sub-20 minute 5K. A modest goal to be sure, but it is something that I am working on feverishly. A 19:59 or better is my Holy Grail. And I am getting close.
You will hear about that, if it ever occurs, on this blog. Mostly though, I will write about each race I run, post what my time was, and have race photos, other observations, etc. I have many races coming up in the Louisville area, so there will be blog updates fairly frequently. It should be fun to write, and I hope it will be fun for you to read.
Happy Running!
Brian
