This past weekend, I ran my first 5K of the year. I didn’t set a personal record — in fact, I ran slower than my last 5K at the end of 2023. I placed near the end for my age group and gender, and crossed the finish line in tow of several speed-walkers.
Regardless, the race was super fun. I got to run through Peninsula State Park in Door County and take in the vast, beautiful sight of Nicolet Bay. I listened to the birds singing in the trees and felt the cool breeze from the lake on my skin.
Being out in nature, listening to the rhythm of my sneakers on the pavement, and taking deep, collected breaths always feels like a form of meditation. That’s the kind of running I’ve come to love.
The fact that I even like running at all is a triumph, since for many years I loathed the sport with every fiber of my being. But even though I run pretty regularly now, my running journey is not a success story by conventional metrics. I’m not constantly getting faster, better, stronger — which is what most mainstream running advice fixates on.
I’m not winning awards, or even beating my own records most of the time. I’m not adding mileage to my training regimen every week, or pushing myself to do strength or speed training on purpose. And that’s okay with me. My running goals are just different.
The numbers don’t show it, but a lot has changed for me since I started running at the beginning of 2023. Doing a 5K — which amounts to about 3.1 miles — used to feel like an impossible distance. Now, it’s a distance I run once or twice a week.
Last year, I remember going really hard at the races I signed up for, and then feeling exhausted the rest of the day. Now, if I run a 5K, I know I just need a hearty snack or a meal afterwards and I’ll be good to do something else. My energy doesn’t feel as easily expended when I go for a run because I actually know how to pace myself now. Plus, my body can recover faster afterwards.
Running just feels better than it did when I started. I wouldn’t say it’s the easiest thing in the world, but I rarely dread going for a run anymore. It also doesn’t make me feel sick or super sore, and I love that (because that used to be a normal thing for me).
But this physical and mental progress isn’t always reflected in my race times. However, I’ve found myself asking more and more lately: does that really matter?
Do any of us really need to be meeting arbitrary goals set by others? In most cases, especially when it come to sports and other hobbies, I’d say no. Maybe most of you have already figured this out, but for me it’s taken quite some time to come around to accepting that my running journey is going to look different than others’ because I care about different things.
I’ll tell you what I do care about most when it comes to running. My ultimate goal is to be able to do this for a long time, and not hate it.
At most races, I usually see a handful of people who are in their 60s, 70s, and 80s, and those are the runners I really admire. If I can keep at it, my hope is that I can also be running when I’m much, much older than I am today.
And I think the key to setting myself on that path is just to have fun. If I turn running into something that feels like work, where I focus on goals and milestones that don’t matter to me, then it’s quickly going to be something I abandon.
So in that regard, I guess I’m a “successful” runner — whatever that means. I can run a 5K and enjoy it. That’s enough for me.
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