Jodi’s Running Blog

When I was on my high school cross country team, I usually ran 5k’s between 22:50 (which remains my PR to this day) and 25 minutes. Since that time, I have never broken the 25 minute 5k, and had determined that it may not happen again. For some reason, though, I had this magical moment today where I thought it was to be.

I had every intention of skiing today for exercise, but on my way to Summit Central I got caught in the middle of a winter storm. When my car began sliding on the road, and my visibility was next to nothing (I won’t go into further details here), I turned around and drove back to Seattle. I was thinking about how the combination of skiing and running this winter had really brightened my mood during an otherwise chilly and gray atmosphere, and how I do feel that perhaps *this* is the best shape of my life. Upon arriving home, I decided today’s workout was going to consist of a 5k, and I would run it as quickly as I could (at a speed maintainable for 3.1 miles). I used the treadmill in my condo’s fitness room to get the distance exactly right. Granted, the indoor temperature was an ideal 65 degrees and it was flat the entire way - but I finished in 24:04!!! Talk about shock. How did that happen? My first thought, rather than being proud of myself, was that the speed on the treadmill must be broken. I don’t think it was, though - I’ve been using it off and on for months and it has been consistent.

24:04 - a slightly better than average time from my high school running days. Except it happened today! At the age of 27, I still have some running spunk. I’m eager to run in a local race, to see if I can repeat the time outside, on random inclines in a different temperature.

So now I’m *really* excited about running, and wondering what I can still do.