Sunday morning (June 7) I ran the Cambridge 5K Freedom Run, and I am happy to say that my times have started to go back down a little bit. Looking over my results, it is the best time of 2015, though if you had asked me this morning, I would have said that I did not want to get out of bed.

My time was 25:53, which is interesting because the course was the same as my earlier 2015 best at Craicfest. This race was hampered a bit by the night before, when the neighbor stopped by and offered me a beer. So, of course I stood a round of my own. Then there was at least one more and a pizza. This is not the ideal race preparation, and I was wondering whether running was a good idea at all. For what it is worth, a lot of the conversation with my neighbor last night revolved around working out.

Still, here are the results.

Race Results from the Cambridge 5K Freedom Run

While this run was pretty good, I think one of the best results from the race was meeting up with a former co-worker, his wife, and a couple of their friends. While running is an individual sport, races are more fun when you have people to talk with at the beer tents afterwards.

The time was not terrible, and if I can attribute them to anything, it has to be the running and exercise I have managed to work in over the last few weeks.

May 30: 1.6 miles on a fitness trail, so with some monkey bars, pull-ups, etc.

May 28: Ran over to a local high school track intending to run some intervals, but there was a track meet. So I ran home. It totaled about 3.6 miles.

May 25: 3.1 miles around the neighborhood.

May 21: 2.1 miles along Lake Michigan in Chicago. It was a cold, but nice morning for a run. I got sick afterwards, but I don’t think that was as a result of the run.

May 17: 1.5 miles running a fitness trail and 1.5 miles walking it. So that got some miles in.

(I track my training runs with a TomTom Nike Plus watch, and will write more about that in the future.)

In addition, I have also been fencing once or twice and lifting weights a few times a week. I think all of these things help, but what I am seeing is that more consistency is definitely key. With the way my life works right now, I am afraid I may need to try to do morning runs. I like mornings, but since most of life happens in the evening, a morning run can be tough. Still, sometimes sacrifices need to be made. We’ll see if I can reset my own personal clock.

However, the other thing that this training and result shows me is that a little training and effort can go a long way. Like so many things, you get what you put in. Now, I recognize there are probably plateaus and maybe even hard limits, but I think more experiments in training are in order.

On a side note, comedian Kevin Hart was in Boston and had an impromptu 5K as a way of encouraging people to make positive changes in their lives. I had the Freedom Run, and I had a great time hanging out with friends that I hadn’t seen in awhile, so give then choice between the two, I would not have changed my plans. But I like the spirit of Hart’s efforts, and if it had been a normal training day for me instead of race day, I would have gone.

You can read more about it here: http://www.boston.com/entertainment/celebrity/2015/06/07/comedian-kevin-hart-invited-all-boston-run-spontaneous-with-him-did/wRFOnriUsUUNbkDESMWufP/story.html