TIART: Favorite Race

So here I go, jumping on the TIART bandwagon! I'm actually kind of excited about this too because I'm sure it will give me more awesome blogs to follow...so yay for that! So the question of the week is from Yummy Running, whose blog I haven't checked out yet, so I'm putting that on the to-do list! The question is:

What is your favorite race? Do you live for the marathons or crave a 5k? Would you rather race in the morning, afternoon, or at night? Do you like big races with tons of people and encouraging crowds or do you prefer the smaller hometown races?

Hmm...the more I think about this question, the tougher it gets for me to answer it! Well, lets start off with what ISN'T my favorite race: the 10K. I don't know...I just don't dig the 10K. It's too long to be 5K fast, but still short enough that it's kind of fast...so just painful...yeah, it's just not my style.

While I don't hate the half marathon, and I definitely think my time to break 1:40 is coming soon, I wouldn't say it's my favorite race either. HMs hurt a lot. I wouldn't say I've ever had an "amazing" HM race. They're fun, and I like that they're more of an endurance race, but favorite? Ehh, you'll have to earn that title, 13.1.

So that brings us to the opposite ends of the spectrum: the 5K and the marathon. I love them both for different reasons. The 5K is FAST. You can run it on a track, or cross country...and boy oh boy, do I love track and cross country. Training for the 5K on the track and actually achieving my goal of breaking 20 was one of the coolest experiences I've had as a runner, and the feeling of running FAST is pretty amazing. I also love the fact that outside the college running circuit, you can pretty much jump in a 5K whenever, without really having to specifically train or think about it. If your "A" race doesn't go as planned, it's highly likely you can find a new "A" race the next weekend, and I like that a lot about the 5K. I also get very, very competitive in this race, probably due to my background with it on the track and in XC. 5K, I LIKE you!

Buuut then there's the marathon...which I'm a little afraid to say I may be slightly in love with. Maybe it's because I was lucky enough to have just a magical first marathon experience, but something about the marathon...I love it. I think the fact that training for the marathon is so much of the journey is what makes me love it. The marathon is amzing too because just doing it, and doing it well, is an accomplishment by itself, whereas if I run a 5K and it doesn't go well, I just feel cranky and like I failed.

And obviously, I'm bad at making decisions! I almost think I like the 5K and the marathon equally because they're opposites - the 5K is like "run fast until you puke" and the marathon is like "run slow until your legs want to fall off". So maybe the answer is that I like races that are really painful, but so incredibly gratifying when you're done. :)

Well, I think as far as size, I like a medium sized race - one enough that there's still competition and excitement, but not so huge that you get totally lost in the crowd. Even though I like doing runs/workouts at night, I like racing in the morning...something about getting up super early is half the fun! And there is NOTHING in the world like a cross country race...hundreds of people flying off that line...that's one thing I really miss, and I'd love to find some open XC races out here.

Anyway...that's about it! Happy Thursday everyone!