The Power of The 5K

I was stupid to assume that a 5K race is something to sneer at.

I was training for a marathon, I remember.  That's a true test of endurance that only a very few, select people can not only commit to, but accomplish.  And to accomplish it, for me, meant running a fast time, to try to qualify for the Boston Marathon.

So when I would hear about people training for a 5K... a little rinky-dink community event where there's no real "winner" just a lot of participants, I would outwardly be like "good for you!" but inwardly be like "pfft, let me know how that goes" with the eyeroll.

But I was wrong.  The 5K is a beast of a race.

It's 3.1 miles of hell.  A true test of your abilities as a runner is to see how long you can hold a sprint for.  Right now, the world record for the 5K is something retarded: like 12 minutes or something.  That's over 3 miles in 12 minutes, a runner would have to be running 4 minute mile splits, or roughly 15 mph.

That's Animal-Speed, brother.

Yes, there are those who go out to the annual local 5K and just jog it out, but I'm not one of those people.  No, I'm a competitor, I thrive on burying my opponents, ... so I want to run a really fast 5K.

As we're coming into the "running season" proper with the passing of the Boston Marathon on Monday, the local 5 and 10K circuits are going to be humming all throughout summer.  I have a few local ones already penned into my calender: the first annual Nauset 5K to benefit Nauset Schools, and the Yarmouth 5K that benefits some sort of police officer charity, both next month.

And then there's the hallowed "Beach to Beacon" 10K in Maine, in August, that I'm hoping I'll be able to compete in.  There's some sticky issues involving work.  More on that another time.

But what I'm really gunning for is taking the win, first place, at the inaugural Nauset 5K.  The Greeks were really good at describing the immortality of their heroes: you had to do something worth remembering forever. And taking first place at the first race, ever.... is as close to immortality as I can possibly get.

So I've been training at the 5K distance.  It's not a long distance by any means, and currently I'm running a 17-minute time, on a flat course.  As with all race course descriptions, the Nauset 5K is described as "mostly flat."

If you've ever run a race before, and the description says "mostly flat" expect there to be a gradual incline that's going to make you it's bitch before it makes you pay for dinner.

But the 5K is no joke, really.  While the marathon is a test of physical and cardiovascular endurance, the 5K is a test of strength.  How hard and how long can you run?  Can you run your hardest for just over 3 miles?  Because there's no pacing here, the race isn't long enough to develop a rhythm with your breathing and footfalls.  No, there's just hard running, speed, fast and slow muscle twitch, and trying to suck down enough O2 to keep your muscles from burning themselves out.

I'm really starting to love the idea of the 5K.