By Staff
Kim West
Running is a great way to relieve stress but it can be difficult to find time to run during the week while working full-time and going to school.
It's always easier to do something when you have a goal to work towards so I figured I would be more motivated to get up and run before work if I signed up for the Huff 'n Puff on the Bluff, which is a 15K road race in Sheffield that benefits the local American Red Cross.
Instead of running the entire 9.3-mile course by myself, I signed up to run as part of a three-person relay team with my friend Brian and a girl named Amy that I had never met before but played with my intramural organization at UNA.
I ran cross-country in high school and took part in a few 5K races while I was going to school in Tuscaloosa, but that seems like a long time ago. I'm going to be fortunate to finish my leg of the race – 3.1 miles – in under 30 minutes because I just started running again a few weeks ago when I should have began training before Thanksgiving. Good runners can run a 5K in under 20 minutes, but I have to start somewhere.
Luckily my teammates run faster than I do, which is why I agreed to run the slow, middle part that involves the hill, which aren't that steep but it's definitely not something you can just sprint up. Brian just took up running but is already hooked on it and is the main reason why I haven't chickened out on running in the race tomorrow morning. Amy has been running 20-25 miles per week while training to join the cross-country team at UNA, so I expect her to be the Roll Tide team's strongest runner. She's an Ohio native but we told her that Go Buckeyes was an unacceptable team name for two people who are big Bama fans.
I've heard a lot of good things about this race, which started only six years ago and includes a post-race party with a free concert and food, so I'm excited that we're getting to participate in something that will hopefully motivate us to keep running on a regular basis. If you're also running in the Huff 'n Puff, good luck and don't hesitate to wave as you pass me Saturday.