5K Fever

Fast is not a word associated with this runner. Despite the exhortations of elementary school peers, the skinny kid was not quick. That’s been long sorted. Years have not changed that. And that’s why longer distance have always appealed over shorter ones.

Cross-country practices in Sunnidale Park as a high school student were a fun slog. Plodding along at a steady pace was my custom. Never too fast, never too slow. And it worked out with a couple of top 10 finishes in GBSSA.

Then, though, basically there was a 30 year gap between exertions. The body slowly, as my dear old Nan said so graciously, filled out.

So when being fat was too much of a burden on these old bones and the need to get back into shape took precedence, completing five kilometres without having a jammer was a goal. Then came the ability to finish 10K, followed by half marathons. And now, fingers crossed, a full at BMO Vancouver Marathon.

But all the goals were built on the memories of youth, distance was good. Short distances were not in the wheelhouse. Back in the day there were lots of conversations had on short twitch muscle fibers versus long twitch. Short twitch was the reason for running long, lack of fast twitch was a genetic quirk that determined the distance. I was a weird kid, admittedly.

Training, though, has provided different perspectives. How do you have a kick at the end? Do you want to mix up distances heading into a big race? Does the body benefit from taking a different approach on the odd weekend?

The answer seems obvious now. As an old man running, turns out variety is really the spice of running life.

It also occurred to me that shorter races for some reasons are for some reason given short shrift. Oh, just did 5K or 10K is a common refrain. As somehow that is less legitimate than the half or full.

Pause for moment and think, other than Usain Bolt, who is the most famous runner in the world. It’s Mo Farah, more accurately Sir Mo Farah. And what did he run? The 5,000 metre and 10,000 metre. Fancier sounding names but still 5K and 10K. In 2012, he won Olympic gold in the 5,000 in 13:41 and in 2016 he did it again in 13:08. In the 10,000, he won Olympic gold in 2012 in a time of 27:30 and in 2016 repeated it in a time of 27:05.

He’s a runner. The 5K and 10K are real races.

That was brought home this weekend during the St. Patrick Day’s 5K in Vancouver. It was the first time racing this distance. Everyone says 5ks are great – “You can just go for it from the start.” It’s not that simple.

On longer distances it is easier to slide into pace. Think of it as a freight train: takes a while to get going but then it can be tough to stop, it has momentum and keeps going at a steady pace. Changing into the 5K mode is more challenging. The bullet train needs a quick start but the lungs need to be ready for it; too quick and it is easy to get derailed.

On the weekend, this freight train just about burst a gasket. But it also helps make for a better runner. There was a host of runners who passed by earlier on the trek through Stanley Park. Quick off the mark was the objective for them. In contrast, the pacing that helps in the longer distances proved helpful in the end.

As folks passed, the internal conversation was clear: run your race, run your pace. Doesn’t matter that some tween just passed you, remember you’re racing against the clock. And it worked. Some were overtaken. Some weren’t. But that’s fine. As an old guy, the race is against self not others. The goal was to essentially match best 10K time. Mission accomplished.

It was also nice to have a complement to the long runs of the weekend, as it takes the long distance runner out of the comfort zone of plodding along. As a solitary runner, who tries to incorporate input from reading a lot of running magazines, it’s clear that mixing distance races will improve this mature runner who suffers from slow twitch affliction.

So while May 6 is the BMO Vancouver Marathon, there is another 5K on the agenda (one day after returning from Vegas, so also sort of a detox) and the TC 10K. It can’t hurt. After all, Sir Mo is now gunning gunning to win the London Marathon. So the 5K is a real race and no one should ever apologize for it.