RUN!
Although I have tried to exercise vigorously most of my adult life, I have never been a runner. I have always thought of running as a mild form of torture, whether on a treadmill or on the street, and so I have chosen to exercise in other ways! But with thoughts of the sprint triathalon still in my head, I have gotten on the treadmill twice since mid-February, and I have taken a run outside on the walking path near my home. (And I still think it is a mild form of torture, even five steps into my endeavor!) But when a friend told me she was thinking about doing a 5K run in the area, I was motivated to do it, as a form of training for the triathalon. Never mind training for the run---we only decided to do this about a week before the event!! I have never participated in any event like this, but didn't think there was much to lose! And so, I signed on!
And here we go, just starting out---the very first leg was up a pretty steep hill! And the hills did not stop! I was later told that this was a pretty tough 5K because of the hills. (Not sure what I would have done if I had known that before the run!)Notice we're smiling at the camera as we're starting out!
Here we are nearing the finish line, 3.1 miles later. I have to say that I almost gave up between miles 2 and 3, but I watched my friend moving along and nicknamed her "pacecar." She kept me moving! No smiles, but lots of determination(or fatigue!)! The end is near!
None of the hubbies were at the actual finish line to snap a pic, but we made it! I have a vague recall of the timer registering 30 minutes, but I was so tired and out-of-breath, I wasn't sure whether that was accurate.
Here are my little racers who were signed up and ready for the "tot trot."
Jack took off in the two-year old race (center of pic), and we were pretty impressed with him until he got to the end and wanted to keep going, so he shot off to the side and took off at a mad sprint... I had to shoot off after him and drag him back to get a medal (all the kids get medals!)
Nicole and Max both ran the 5-year old race (there were no events for 6-year olds, and I wasn't up for the whining that would surely ensue when I told Nicole that her brothers would race, get medals and free ice cream and she wouldn't!) On your mark, get set....and I was really not able to get a picture of the confusion after their start, but here they are at the starting line. (Nicole in the middle, Max at far left.)
My medal winners!
And, the results. I came in #159 out of 333 runners. Official time was 30 minutes, 15 seconds, with my speed being a 9 minute 45 second mile. I was number 18 out of 51 runners in my age group. I am pretty happy with the results of my first run!
Someone once told me that competitions were addictive, and I said I couldn't imagine wanting to do it again once I've done it once. And of course? I have already checked whether there were some other 5K runs in the area. I have one in my sights, but I only want to do it if I get some more running time under my belt...
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