Lessons Learned from a 5K Race

Back in September, on Labor Day, I ran my very first 5K race. It was more than just physical journey to get there, it was a spiritual and emotional process, too. I had planned on blogging about it, and never finished the post.

But a couple of weeks ago (in keeping with January is the "season-for-getting-healthy") I was asked to share with my moms' group about my experiences training and running the 5K. So I pulled out what I had written, and I actually re-inspired myself! Funny how things like that happen.

It was good to read through my thoughts right after the race, and remember. So, I've started training again for another 5K, which I'll do with some friends this time. Can't wait to see what lessons I will learn about myself and life this time around!

I thought I'd share the unfinished post I wrote 4 months ago. I've chosen not to even edit it, as I had originally intended to do, because in its current state you can just sense the raw excitement and endorphins still in my blood from the exhilarating experience.

Maybe these lessons can inspire you, too. :)

Lessons Learned from a 5K Race ... Who Knew?!

 

Three months ago I got an idea in my head. “I think I’d like to run a 5k.” Why? I have no idea. In part, getting in shape to run would be good for me. In part, I turned 41 this summer, so I needed to prove that I can still do something physical like this. In part, it would be pretty cool thing to accomplish for a non-athlete like myself. So, at the advice of a runner-friend, I registered for a race about 10 weeks out. Then the reality hit, and I kept vacillating between “This is really no big deal,” and “What in the world have you gotten yourself into?”

 

So, after the important next step of buying a good sports bra :), I set out to train. Little by little I built up my lung capacity, my leg muscles, and my endurance. And 10 weeks later, I ran my very first 5k race!!

Reflecting on the whole process, here are some things I learned.

 

1)  You don't have to lose weight, look cute in running shorts, or want to run marathons to be a runner. While all of these things are great, they are not requirements to run a 5k, as I once assumed. These 3 things - among others - were barriers in my mind to being a runner. But now, they have officially been debunked. I didn’t go on a diet. I usually looked pretty frumpy on my morning runs (and spent a whole day shopping for acceptable sportswear for race day… and had to add long biker shorts to those “cute running shorts” to make myself look presentable). And I do NOT want to run marathons. Yet, I had a great time training and completing my 5k.

 

2)   If you train well, it's really not hard! When my runner friends told me that training makes the race easy (a concept at which I scoffed with a huge eye-roll), they were right. I started out not being able to run 20 yards without feeling like I would pass out, so the idea of running 3.1 miles with ease absolutely seemed absurd. But after training 3 times a week, running longer and longer periods of time, taking it slow, you gain confidence, along with your lung capacity and stronger muscles, and somehow one day you actually run further than you ever thought you could! When I began the race that day, I knew I would finish because I had done it before in training. And really the only part of the race that was difficult was an incline toward the end. But it was actually good to push through it, making me stronger and prouder at the finish.

 

       [This particular lesson has some real broader life application. While it’s a truth as old as the human race, it’s one worth noting here. When you want to make some action or skill a part of who you are, practicing it regularly makes it come easy. Whether it’s connecting with God through prayer, connecting with your husband with a kiss as he leaves and one when he returns, eating more healthy foods, being more intentional about friendships… whatever the goal, regular consistent practice over a period of time will make that goal come easy.]

 

3)   You can’t compare yourself to others to the extent that it impedes upon celebrating the achievement of your own personal goals. My goal was to complete a 5k race. I didn’t set out to come in first, or win any awards, I just wanted to finish and be proud of my efforts. When I started training, it was easy to find myself noticing friends who ran 15ks, triathlons, marathons, super-marathons, and it made me question my own goal. “What significance is running 3.1 miles when people run 10 times that? They deserve to celebrate their achievement, but should I be proud of a little ol’ 5k race?”  I had to keep focused on my own personal journey. If I began to compare myself to others out running in the mornings, or friends Facebook posts of how far and how fast they went during their runs, or to others running the 15k part of my race that day, I could have gotten discouraged or distracted from my own journey to the finish. It’s easy to compare ourselves to others, and there are healthy ways to do that. But our goals, our paths, our journeys are our own. Finishing a 5k race was a big accomplishment for me. I can celebrate that and be proud of it! (And by the way, my friends who are runners were all so supportive. They didn’t scoff at my 5k. They knew it was big for me, and they encouraged me all along the way.)

 

4)   Running gives you quality time with yourself. I thought I would dread getting up to run in the mornings, and that this whole process would be the test of my will over the pain of it all. But that, too, was debunked. There’s something about running: You feel free. You feel alive. You have time with your own thoughts. You realize what your “self-talk” is, and you have a chance to change it. I actually enjoyed getting up to run. Not that I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed all the time as I walked out the door, but I once I was running, it felt good to be with me. I think I needed that.

 

5)   When you set your mind to something, you can, in fact, accomplish it - even if it seems crazy at the time, and even with bumps along the way. This really was big for me. I’m pretty good at doing things I’m pretty good at doing. In other words, prior to this 5k thing, goals I set and accomplishments I make have usually fallen into the categories of something I enjoy doing or am naturally good at doing. Running is NOT one of those things! So the fact that I set my mind to this and completed it is HUGE! I am NOT a morning person. I have never been able to get up early to exercise before my day starts. But somehow running was life-giving enough, and I was determined enough, that I did it with not much dread at all.  When I wanted to roll over and go back to sleep, I could remind myself of the soul-nourishing time I was about to get to spend with myself, and about the thrill of accomplishing a goal I was working toward, and that gave me the boost I needed to get up and run even before the sun was awake! I also had a bump along the way that I had to work through physically and psychologically. I hurt my gluteus medias (a painful strain along my hip bone) about a month before the race. Since it didn’t get better after taking a week off, I wondered if I would be able to run the race at all. Through the advice of my running friends, I went to a sports doctor. (Man did I feel out of place in there with all the ironman posters and such!)  I had to have 3 weeks of therapy twice a week, plus homework therapy, which STINKS (and definitely makes one feel OLD). But while I was not always chipper about it, I got through it! And by the time I ran the race, I could hardly feel the injury. That in itself felt like an accomplishment! The whole process really taught me determination.

 

6)   Mind over matter is a powerful thing. Positive self-talk allowed me to enjoy this journey. Really! After a couple days of training I knew I needed to think about who and what I wanted to be in this whole process. (I told you that running gives you time to think.) So I came up with this: "I am a happy, healthy, fit runner." While I trained, I repeated this to myself with the rhythm of my steps. This truth got me through the “muck” of the tough runs, and helped me keep the pace when I didn’t want to keep going. It kept a smile on my face and helped me to tune out the muscle soreness or the fatigue. Not letting those negative thoughts marinate in your brain really helps. The morning of the race I added these thoughts, "Be here. Be now. Enjoy the dance." It sounds funny, I know, but I knew I wanted to soak in everything about the race and not just focus on the running. I felt like the journey I had been on to get here had spiritual, psychological, and emotional components as well as physical.  That morning I wanted to acknowledge God’s guidance through it all – his teaching me to “dance” in this way. The race was like the performance of the dance, and I wanted to enjoy every bit of it. And I did. I enjoyed the beauty of White Rock Lake and its surroundings – the trees, the water, the grass, the pets, the patrons – all of it! I enjoyed the warm breezes that refreshed me every so often, the warm sun on my face when I emerged out from under the shade of the trees, and the fellow racers with their different styles, different attitudes, and different methods. I LOVED IT! One of my favorite moments was seeing a dad running the race at a swift pace - enough to be passing me heading back to the finish before I had reached the turn. He was pushing his two kiddos in a jogging stroller. The whole time, his little girl was chanting “Go, Daddy, go! Go, Daddy, go!” How could that not make you smile! And then, of course, I loved my own family cheering for me! Yes, they stood out along the course and got lots of attention from runners around me as they yelled, “Go Mommy! You can do it! We love you! Go Kim!” I think I’ll keep those encouragements tucked away in my head to pull out and replay for a long time to come!

 

7)  Focusing on yourself is important. Yes, I am a woman and a mom and that means it’s really uncomfortable to focus on myself without feeling wrong, guilty, weird, and out of sorts! I mean, I’m all for me-time when it comes to an hour or two spent reading, journaling, having coffee with friends, or shoe shopping. But this process of training for the 5k went much deeper than a few hours of me-time. It took physical energy; it took time spent planning my runs; it took emotional energy working through the aforementioned lessons. It felt odd to leave the kids in the morning with their breakfast bars with a “I’m going out to run. Call me if you need me.” I wouldn’t think anything of it, if I were going to the store (for the family), but something felt a little wrong about leaving them to do something that was for me. When I would be out on a run, I would think about how weird it felt to be putting forth all this effort… for what? …for me …not for the kids, not for Leon, not for family, not for friends, not for the church, not for the school, not for a club …for ME. It was truly a new concept, and I really am still working through it as I write. But I do know that God is teaching me to work on myself. It’s an important thing. When I spend time working on myself, I have more of myself to give, and I spend less time trying to work on (change) others.

So that's where I stopped writing 4 months ago.

I have to add a few things I left out. First, I have to mention how it felt for my family and close friends to come to the race to cheer me on. Though this wasn't a huge race, and there were very few sideline cheerleaders, that didn't stop my crew from screaming and making a fool of themselves with cowbells and signs. Feeling their love and support was pretty awesome!

Another thing I didn't get to was the real spiritual component to the training. All of the lessons above worked deep down within my spirit and brought me closer to God. I know it may sound dramatic or silly or like I'm over-spiritualizing, but it's just true. 2012 was a real year of spiritual growth and depth for me, and training for a 5K played a role in that.

For example, one morning as I was running, a poem came to me.... really just came out of me... flowed out of me. I couldn't write it down obviously, but as the words and phrases came I repeated them and absorbed it all as I ran. I wrote it down as soon as I got inside. It was something I have never before experienced. Being outside running early in the morning meant that I got to see the stars twinkle and fade as the sun rose, and I heard the birds as they began to fly all around. So my soul apparently just burst forth with a poem as a response to God's presence and love in that moment. It was a beautiful and meaningful morning I'll never forget - certainly the most poignant moment in all of my training.

While running may never become a real passionate hobby of mine like many of my friends, I have come to enjoy the experience of it. It was a blessing to journey through the decision, training, and the race.