It’s Not About Winning

Yesterday I ran the Honan J Brian 5K in Allston, and having been the first race I’ve run in months, was a much-welcomed reminder of how much I enjoy races. The course went through Allston and Brighton centers and was followed by a parade and street festival on Harvard St.—featuring live bands, arts & crafts vendors, and samples of food, drinks and random health-related giveaways. I walked away feeling full and happy, and took home a bag full of freebies—my favorite being a 6-inch, Walgreens-branded plastic basketball set that has already found its way to my office.

For those who haven’t run a race before, they’re a fun way to motivate and breathe new life into a potentially stale workout routine. You don’t have to be fast or a serious runner to run a race—just the inspiration to sign up and the interest in seeing it through. I find them a great way to stay motivated: Having a race on my calendar gives me an obvious goal to train towards, and signing up with a few friends makes it all the more fun.

For shorter distance races (5K, 10K) there are thousands out there and you can find one near any given city on mostly every weekend. Some of my favorite Websites for finding races are New England Runner, Active.com (nation-wide, and site has other, non-running races too), and Runner’s World (which has lots of great running resources).

Longer distance races are a great way to boost endurance. Half marathons are my personal favorite, because while they definitely require training, they aren’t as all-consuming as a marathon. If you’re thinking of doing one, I would strongly recommend following a training program so that you can build up your endurance and not get injured. There are hundreds of different programs to follow, but the one I used (and really liked) is Hal Higdon’s marathon training guide—which has different options for half vs. full & novice through advanced.

In the spirit of fun and motivation through organized runs, consider this your open invitation to join me this Sunday morning in Brookline MA to run a (completely non-competitive) 5K. Get more info on Facebook on my event page. Hope those of you in Boston are able to make it!