The bumpy trail to a 5K

The minute I step on the treadmill or out my door, I imagine hundreds of runners passing by and a finish line 3.1 miles away – unreachable, impossible, the alfa of my omega.

I want to run a 5K, but the thought of actually doing so fills me with a hopelessness equaled only by the thought of running a full 26-mile marathon. Impossible! It’s the same defeatist voice that interrupts my Hungarian lessons, smirks at playwrighting, and shoes my finger from the send button after I finish writing a query.

With running, defeatism physically manifests–Anxiety turns my legs to rocks, sneakers shrink or my foot expand (does running make your feet grow?), my head won’t stay level, my shoulders are too heavy, my back hurts maybe its my heart that hurts, I can’t see. I try not to look at the clock or my distance, but the gym is playing ‘My heart will go on’ and if I don’t look at my distance I will fall over. –And it’s not usually until my third mile that it passes.

 

I read that there are 7500 5Ks each year in the US alone- many of these are in places I’d love to visit on foot. Runner’s World even has a handy tool that helps you structure a training program. Training program?

Like writing, running is something that you have to DO and DO often if not daily. It’s not a surprise that so many writers are also runners. Like facing rejection, you can’t be afraid to hit a wall (as long as you are in tune with your body and how far you should push yourself). It doesn’t hurt forever.

With that I print out my training program, which I’ll transfer onto an index card each day and will not peak ahead. Per Runner’s World’s recommendation, I’m staying in the present. This training outline is way more intense than my current goals, but I’ll take it in stride.

I like Jen A Miller’s post on her approach to running. My new goal is to isolate the pressure that’s always gone along with running. It doesn’t work for me.