We have had such a fun weekend! The best part,
for me, was running my first 5k.
Here's how it went...
I had been looking forward to this all week. It was the day of my first 5k. The day I would accomplish my
goal. For some people, people who have been running for
years or people who are
natural born runners, this wouldn't seem like much of an accomplishment. But for
me? It was
huge. It was something I set out to do
months ago. Something I worked hard to accomplish. Something I am
proud of.
Let me start by saying that B has been my #1 fan.
From day one. And this hasn't changed.
On Friday night he handed me two 12oz. bottles of water and told me to finish them
both before we went to bed {in preparation for my run}.
Does he
know how small my bladder is? Even though there was
no way I was going to drink all that water
right before bed, it made me smile to know he was just as excited about my run as I was :)
We got ready for bed, I laid out my running clothes, and we set our alarms for 6:30a.m.
As soon as my alarm went off my first thought was "Why do people schedule these things so early in the morning??" I am
not a morning person.
We got dressed quickly, I grabbed a water and a granola bar, and we were on our way.
We got there with plenty of time to check in and warm up. I got my race-timer-thingy {the strap that goes on your ankle and tells you your time at the end}, pinned on my number, did a quick warm-up run, and it was
time.
Everyone's advice to me was to remember to run at
my pace. They said to stay in the
back and told me not to worry about keeping up with the
other runners. So my plan was to start off in the back of the group from the starting line. But it all happened so quickly that I just had to
jump in and go.
When the horn blew I was standing in the middle of the group,
closer to the front than I wanted to be. But I had my music playing
{Pandora pop and hip-hop power mix}, and I was ready to go.
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| {That's me in the pink shorts.} |
So was everyone else. For the next few minutes I watched out of the corners of my eyes as the other runners
flew past me. I stayed positive and reminded my self that this was
my run, and that no one else even mattered. But by the time I rounded the first corner I just
knew that everyone had passed me.
"Don't look behind you," I told myself. "Who cares if you're last?"
{If I was actually the last runner, I did
not want to know.}
I kept running. At
my pace. And as I rounded the second corner I noticed that I was no longer getting passed. Everyone was starting to spread out, and I felt like this
was my run. I
could do this.
As my confidence started to build, I decided to
glance back. Just to
see if I was last.
To my surprise there was a whole
group of people behind me! I laughed to myself. How silly of me to have even
worried about it!
At this point I was feeling great! This was just
another run, on
another trail, in
another city. The weather was
perfect, slightly windy with the sun peeking through the clouds. As I ran I tried to soak everything in. The crowd, the runners, the great
organization that this run would benefit. I was
loving it.
As I ran I noticed the
diversity in all the runners. There were people of every age and every race. There were doctors, nurses, and receptionists. There were married people, single people, moms and dads. There were even runners who were
not people...
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| {Princess will begin the C25k program as soon as I get home ;)} |
I finished the first half of the race and felt confident I could finish the second. I always compare new runs to places I have run in the past. I told myself "I just have to run around our neighborhood in Corpus
one more time."
Before I knew it, I was getting close to the end. As I rounded the last corner I could see it. That was
such a good feeling. I couldn't help but smile as I crossed the
finish line.
 |
| {Mission Accomplished} |
My first thought: When can I do it again?!
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| {Sweaty, tired, and hungry.} |
My second thought: Where are we going to eat?? {Haha..}
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| {Post-race migas and queso..yum!} |
We went to Cafe Brazil, my favorite breakfast place in Addison. It was the
perfect brunch after my run.
I
loved my first 5k! I am already thinking about when to sign up for another one, and today I looked into the 'Bridge to 10k' app for my phone. I do want to get a few more 5ks under my belt before training for a 10k, but it's good to be prepared,
right??
**Thanks for the "Good Luck" calls and texts...You know who you are ;)
