In January 2020, a friend of mine posted on Facebook that he signed up for a 5k run hosted around his area. I thought, why not join him, and we’ll do the run together. Well, after training for the race for a few months (I haven’t run this consistently in years at this point), the people who set up the race canceled for good reason because of the pandemic. But after seeing the benefits of running again regarding my weight and stamina, I kept at it. And…I was enjoying it.
Since I started, there were periods when I wasn’t keeping up with it and sinking back to sitting around all day. But in February this year, I laced up my running shoes again, and it’s been my form of exercise since then. I like to keep it two to three times a week when I go run a few miles. I try not to force myself to run a lot and burn myself out. The two to three days a week have been working well; I don’t feel burned out, and I’ve been going strong for my most prolonged time. So that’s a plus!
I signed up for a few 5k races this year. It’s been motivating to try and beat my fastest time (my August race so far has it at 25:20), and having others run with you helps a lot, too. While most people there are just having a good time and not taking it too seriously, I’m a little more competitive, so I tend to push myself to get past them all. It’s a strong community, so I’ve enjoyed my time at these races.
A goal for 2025 is to run in many more races as they come around in my area. And eventually going for the big, bad marathon!
Brad Michael, Writer 
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