Joshua Grzegorzewski: the RunningBull Blog : Tags : 5k

After having taken some time away from my campaign in order to participate in the Blackberry Curve Urban Challenge Grand Finale event in San Francisco (as discussed briefly in my last post) I am ready to get back to my primary mission of the year: Running in honor of our soldiers. Next week I will be participating in two 5-mile races; the 25th Annual POW-MIA Race for Freedom in South Boston and the 4th of July Minuteman Classic in Concord, MA both of which pay tribute to the soldiers who have risked everything for this country.

Since my normal running schedule had been so upset through all of my recent travels, my regular blood donation (every 8-10 weeks), and my first 100 mile week (thanks to the Western States Training Camp) I tested myself last weekend with a local race; the Auburndale Community of Newton, MA "Rove the Cove 5k". This race provided me an opportunity to gauge my current capabilities in a shorter (i.e.. faster) race while also helping my friend Alain promote his series of race events that directly conflict with the POW-MIA Race for Freedom and my work shift at Karma Yoga Studio next Sunday by distributing flyers for the Boloco Heartbreak Hill Grand Prixand wearing his race shirt. It doesn't hurt that I am also a huge fan of the Boloco burritos and smoothies.

Well, I found that I can still run in the low 6-minute range over varying terrain on a hot and humid day so my race performances should be fine next week. Now I just have to figure out how to get out to Concord in time for the start of the race on July 4, since my wife will have the car for her residency at Tanglewood, the Train doesn't run early enough, the buses aren't running, and I don't necessarily want to run the 15 miles each way to race for 5 more. Maybe I can borrow a bicycle.

0 Comments Permalink Tags: 5k, veteran, san_fransisco, boston, training

I am a runner; it seems that I always have been. In elementary school I was one of the fastest kids on the playground and I just enjoyed any chance I could get in those silly made-up recess games and gym class exercises to test myself against the other kids. Things weren't quite so easy for me in high school where I played on the basketball team and ran sprints in track. I was pretty much out matched by the upperclassmen in pure sprinting, so the coach directed me to the hurdles where I eventually became League Champion in the 400m intermediate hurdles during my senior year. At college I toyed with the idea of walking on to the track team, at least until I saw the times being put up in my event by guys already on the team. Plus I just couldn't dedicate enough time to running to fit in with Derrick Adkins and Angelo Taylor (400m hurdles Olympic gold medalists in 1996 and 2000 respectively) while still trying my best to get the education that was my first priority. So running went away...for a long, long time.

Twelve years later I saw an ad for the Friends of the Atlanta Opera 5k and decided that it was a cause worth supporting and the t-shirt included with the registration was just too cool. So I trained for a couple of weeks and even got up to 2 miles on the treadmill at the community center. I thought that I was ready to run 3 times further than I had run at one time, even as a 17 year old athlete low those many years gone by. About 5 minutes into the run and I felt like I was going to die! But I didn't, so the experience didn't sour me from ever running again. But I still didn't try again until almost 18 months and one 1,300 mile move later.

Next time: How one goes from getting demoralized by a couple of 11 year old girls in a local 5k to challenging the Boston Marathon in 3 easy steps.

0 Comments Permalink Tags: boston_marathon, 5k, hurdles, running, inspiration