…well, I didn’t run an official 5K…but I did just run 3.1 miles since it’s so freakin’ warm out and I wanted to take advantage of it.
March is the best…spring training, college basketball tournaments and you can have about six inches of snow and 73 degrees in the same week (which is, in fact, what just happened).
Anyway, back to the run…I have never been much of a jogger or runner since cycling is more my thing. However, in August 2006, my bike sustained a flat tire that I was too lazy to get fixed for a few weeks. But instead of doing nothing, I went out to the track behind the school next to where I lived at the time and started running.
And, as fate would have it, our division at Rider University (where I was working at the time) signed up for the Mercer County Heart Walk/5K Run. Nearly everybody signed up for the walk, but I figured I might as well challenge myself and do the 5K.
My goals for that event were to a) not have a heart attack, and b) assuming “a” didn’t happen, finish in under 30 minutes.
I crossed the finish line at 27 minutes, 54 seconds.
After I did the one 5K, I planned to do at least three a year. I was pumped!
Of course, I haven’t done one since. And, worse, I haven’t even done much running in the duration.
But with today’s nice weather, I decided to run for the first time since maybe early last summer. Considering all of that, I didn’t do too badly…29 minutes, 54 seconds. So maybe I’ll give this running thing a try again.
Another reason to start running again? Back when I was running quite regularly in 2006, it was part of a personal weight-loss initiative — prompted by a heart disease scare that turned out to be false — that resulted in my losing 35 pounds. Unfortunately, I needed to lose five more pounds to reach my target weight, which would have put me at “normal” weight based on BMI (body mass index). For the first time in forever, I would have officially been “not overweight.”
But I never made it to that point. Once the weather turned colder, I stopped running and started gaining weight again. The good thing was that I didn’t gain it all back, but I did put back on about 20 pounds or so.
Well, now that I live with my girlfriend, who is very health-conscious (at least 90 percent of the time), I have managed to lose 10 of those pounds without really even trying. So, at this point, I’m about 15 pounds away from hitting that BMI-based weight target.
I might as well go for it.
Although I am really craving pizza and wings right now. Mmm…pizza and wings.
Brian Kelley 