Having fun with my races this summer

I’m not always training for a race, but usually when I do it’s “for serious”. I try to run my best and do whatever is within my power to post as fast a time as I can. These races are satisfying, but also not without their stress and intensity. I was recently giving a pep talk to some of the grade-school kids I help coach who had a race coming up. I said: “Go out and have fun!” and I really meant it. Then I thought, hey – why don’t I do that too?? Imagine that – a race experience that is FUN!

So this summer, while I do have a long range goal race which I’ll do “for serious”, I’ve decided on the most part to do races “for fun”. This means I’ll be randomly jumping into races without over-thinking them or worrying about the outcome. In fact, I’ve already started.

My first “fun” race was a 1K course, the second half of which was a very steep hill (Pottery Road Hill for those in the Toronto are who know it). Here is a picture of the hill, although it’s a long, windy hill, so I’m not sure this does it justice.

It turned out to be pouring rain by the time the race was about to start. I considered not doing it, but my super keen cheering crew (4 year-old and 7 year-old) wanted me to run. To top it off, my 7 year-old nephew wanted to run it too! (we later realized that was because of the opportunity to get soaking wet, not in spite of it)

This was the view from my car window a few minutes before the race:

This was me after the race:

Was it fun? You bet!

I’ve since run a 5K race complete with a chocolate station and shirtless firefighters handing out water.

Fun? Um… YES!

Next up, I plan on running some more races ranging in length from 5K to 10K. Why not? I can be serious anytime. Summer running for me is the time to have fun.

Enjoy 🙂