A 5K kinda day

I DID IT!

Today was the day I have been thinking about for the past 7 weeks.

My sister, Kari, found out that I had started running and mentioned that we should run a 5K while she is home.  My emotions were all over the place on this one.  I went from 'YES!' to 'Nah' to 'maybe', back to 'Yes' then back to 'I don't think I should.' 

Then I found out that Jennie, Kim, and Kristin were all in when she mentioned it to them so I knew that I had to now.  You can't have a sister's 5K without me!

According to my C25K program I would just be finishing my 9 week program so the run they signed up for fit perfectly into my 'already-in-progress' plan.

My decision was made.  I was going to do it.

I was not too convinced that I was going to be able to handle it.  The longer my runs got during training, the harder they got.  I would look at the GPS run tracker and see that I had only gone 2.2-2.5 miles and even though it felt real good- I had run the first and last 5 minutes of the time (that distance was included in the 2.2-2.5 miles) and I could not imagine how I was going to find enough energy or stamina to run another .8-.6 miles!  I had to keep reminding myself that it is a walker friendly course and if I can't run the whole thing, who cares.  (Jennifer said it best today) 'It's not about the time, it's about the fact that I am in the game'

She's right!

Even when I was in my best shape when I was younger I never ran 3 miles.  Maybe 1 or a little more but never 3.    I hadn't run in over 10 years.  seriously.  I just want to show up and try it out.

The race started at 7:00 am so around 6:45 we lined up at the starting line and started stretching a little.  Then we were off....

Accomplishments of the day

1.  I ran the whole time! 

2.  I finished in less than 45 minutes (which was my real goal- I never said I was fast)

3.  At the end I didn't feel like I wanted to die.

The whole experience was pretty awesome!  You get an amazing runners-high when you are done and instead of feeling like I wanted to die I felt like I wanted to try again!  Not today, but another time this year.  At least one more.

Probably my favorite part of the day was when I was done with the race and I texted Brian to tell him that I finished and he texted me back that he was proud of me.  I have had so much support from my friends and family and I have appreciated it all so much.  I especially appreciate how supportive Brian has been during this past 9 weeks when I had this bright idea that I needed to finally get my butt of the couch to do something and instead of nagging me when I would skip a night or teasing me when I would come home with a beet red face he would work with me to assure that I could get out or help me put the girls to bed so that I could get going.

I have gotten a few emails, texts, and Facebook messages from friends saying that I have motivated them to get started and many of them have started the C25K program themselves.  It's amazing to think that I could have motivated anyone but I am glad to hear it!  I hope they all stick with it and get to experience what I did today.

Special thanks to Loriann, my sisters, Jennifer, Karri and Tammy who encouraged me and let me talk W_D_ with them ALL THE TIME.  I know that I was probably more than annoying ;-)

A little end of the race pose



Yay us!



Jennie:  33:56

Amy:  36:41

Kari:  41:46

Kim:  35:34

Kristin:  35:35

Oh, and I realize that I didn't win an oscar.  For some this might not be a huge deal.  It was to us and it is something that I am super proud of!