I have loved road racing for as long as I have been a runner. Two of my older brothers were runners and attended colleges in New England (and I followed suit a few years later), and I sat transfixed at their feet as they told stories of road races and the characters who competed in them. 

Road racing was a serious sport in New England in those days, falling just behind the Red Sox in baseball and the Celtics in basketball and just ahead of the Bruins in hockey and the Patriots in football. Races were simply charted out on local roads and the estimate of the distance was given in the race flyer. “The 29^thAnnual Barrington Turkey Trot: 5.7 miles.” 

Never did one find a 5K or even a 10K in New England, back in those days, until the official governing body of the sport got their hands on it and began to certify the distances on courses. They did this because people wanted to have records. Of course, this turned many of the great road races into 5K races or 10K races, distances easy to compare from one certified course to another. 

I’m not an “old-school” kind of guy. I try to avoid the use of the term. Progress is fine with me, but it changes us. Sometimes that’s okay and sometimes not. I put road racing in the “that’s okay” column. You can still love the purity of the race, however, by not worrying about a record or even a time. 

That’s how I approached the races in the old days. I did, I admit, race the other runners. I thought in terms of place and if I were running in a pack of other runners, I would strategize in my head on how I would beat those guys, but at the end of the day, completing a road race gave me my sense of accomplishment. Covering and surviving the course was what made me feel special. 

I still take that attitude today, although I don’t race as much as I did when I was younger. When I choose a road race, I just want to run. I want to feel the joy of competing. I want to feel the joy of completing the course. I want to feel the joy of crossing the finish line. And I want to feel the joy of a sense of accomplishment. I hope that you, too, can feel the joys of that kind of running. Simply leave behind all those things that measure. 

My post, here, is about road racing because the people at Team CMMD have asked me to put together a training program for folks to follow in preparation for the foundation’s big road race this November (I am a huge supporter of Team CMMD and am sort of the resident coach for team members). Team CMMD foundation is dedicated to the families of our area who are fighting cancer. It also raises money for cancer research.

It’s a 5K, yes, but you can also make believe that you are running in beautiful Vermont and you are simply tackling the course, not worried about time but just out there for the joys you will get from doing it. Plus it’s for a great cause. It’s called “This Run is Personal” or “TRIP” for short. It attracts a huge crowd every fall.

Click below to download a training program made just for this road race. I will be adding more training programs over the next few days, but right now, this is an excellent program for beginners.

There is also a link to the race itself just above and on the training page if this is the first time you are hearing about it. It’s a great fundraiser for our team. And all you have to do to be a part of that cause is to enter. I hope you do. The November weather is likely to be beautiful, sort of like a New England August, cold but invigorating. Check out the race info and training program. And check back here for more information about running and other topics of interest.