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My First 5K - Can I just say AMAZING!
I ran the Phoenix 10K event (I did the 5K portion). I've been training haphazardly for the last couple of months so I thought I'm going to come in dead last, but that's okay, I'm at least going to finish!
The race started at 9:15 a.m. and my friend and I lined up at the starting area to wait for the foghorn - and we were off! It was a beautiful morning in Phoenix - just perfect weather. I was a little nervous, but once I started running with the crowd listening to my the tunes on my I-pod I started to feel a little better, and of course feeling less like a sore thumb sticking out and more like someone that belonged - a runner.
No, I wasn't as fast as so many of them, no I wasn't as fit as many of them, but YES I too was a runner. The first mile I was pretty strong and was holding my own, but somewhere in that second mile I was feeling winded. My legs didn't hurt, but I just couldn't catch a breath and so I started to do a fast walk. My friend was running along with me and she noticed that I fell back. She looked back at me and waved me forward. So I took a breath and ran along side of her with a steady pace. I didn't carry water because I didn't want to be holding anything. I was running without water while I was training as well, so I thought it would be okay. But let me tell you, at mile 1 I was ready for water and the water station wasn't for another half mile. And when I saw it I ran so fast just to feel the water on my lips! LOL!
And so 1.5 more to go right? Well after mile 2 once again I was losing steam. My run slowed to a fast walk once more. My friend once again saw me pooping out and once again waved me to come forward. I just looked at her and shook my head and motioned with my hand for her to move forward. I was done. My friend was in the military and she said to me, "No way, I don't leave my troop behind. We're going in together so come on!" I still shook my head at her, and she says, "I hope I'm not upsetting you; I just want to encourage you. You're doing great!" I told her no, I just didn't want to mess up her time and to please go on ahead. Once more she said no, I'm not leaving you behind; let's go.
Well, I didn't want to mess up her time and so I picked up that fast walk into a slow run and before I knew it we finally were in the last 1/2 mile. People, when I saw the finish line I was SOOO ready to finish. Out of nowhere I felt my feet pick up the pace, I felt my stride get long and there was nothing that was going to stop me from finishing. And no, I wasn't worried about my time - I just wanted it to be OVER. :-) All kept thinking was once I cross that finish line, I can STOP moving! LOL!
I realized at that moment that I had passed up my friend - albeit slightly. But I was ahead of her because I wanted to finish so fast. But you know what, I didn't leave her behind. I slowed my pace until she was along side of me and I grabbed her hand and pulled her across the finish line with me! We hugged really quick because you know if it wasn't for her motivating me, I'm not so sure I would have finished running.
Now, here is the best part. My personal time when I'm running by myself to train has been on average a little over 47 minutes for a 5K. As I crossed the finish line I saw that I ran the event in 39:04 - yes, you read that right. 39:04 - I shaved off 8 minutes off of my time! I felt AMAZING! Just amazing. This was a HUGE victory for me. I felt so proud. I have myself to thank, my body to thank, my friend to thank for motivating me across that finish line - and my husband to thank. He was waiting at the finish line for me with a big ole' smile and it felt really cool that my hubby was there rooting for me.
AMAZING!
The race started at 9:15 a.m. and my friend and I lined up at the starting area to wait for the foghorn - and we were off! It was a beautiful morning in Phoenix - just perfect weather. I was a little nervous, but once I started running with the crowd listening to my the tunes on my I-pod I started to feel a little better, and of course feeling less like a sore thumb sticking out and more like someone that belonged - a runner.
No, I wasn't as fast as so many of them, no I wasn't as fit as many of them, but YES I too was a runner. The first mile I was pretty strong and was holding my own, but somewhere in that second mile I was feeling winded. My legs didn't hurt, but I just couldn't catch a breath and so I started to do a fast walk. My friend was running along with me and she noticed that I fell back. She looked back at me and waved me forward. So I took a breath and ran along side of her with a steady pace. I didn't carry water because I didn't want to be holding anything. I was running without water while I was training as well, so I thought it would be okay. But let me tell you, at mile 1 I was ready for water and the water station wasn't for another half mile. And when I saw it I ran so fast just to feel the water on my lips! LOL!
And so 1.5 more to go right? Well after mile 2 once again I was losing steam. My run slowed to a fast walk once more. My friend once again saw me pooping out and once again waved me to come forward. I just looked at her and shook my head and motioned with my hand for her to move forward. I was done. My friend was in the military and she said to me, "No way, I don't leave my troop behind. We're going in together so come on!" I still shook my head at her, and she says, "I hope I'm not upsetting you; I just want to encourage you. You're doing great!" I told her no, I just didn't want to mess up her time and to please go on ahead. Once more she said no, I'm not leaving you behind; let's go.
Well, I didn't want to mess up her time and so I picked up that fast walk into a slow run and before I knew it we finally were in the last 1/2 mile. People, when I saw the finish line I was SOOO ready to finish. Out of nowhere I felt my feet pick up the pace, I felt my stride get long and there was nothing that was going to stop me from finishing. And no, I wasn't worried about my time - I just wanted it to be OVER. :-) All kept thinking was once I cross that finish line, I can STOP moving! LOL!
I realized at that moment that I had passed up my friend - albeit slightly. But I was ahead of her because I wanted to finish so fast. But you know what, I didn't leave her behind. I slowed my pace until she was along side of me and I grabbed her hand and pulled her across the finish line with me! We hugged really quick because you know if it wasn't for her motivating me, I'm not so sure I would have finished running.
Now, here is the best part. My personal time when I'm running by myself to train has been on average a little over 47 minutes for a 5K. As I crossed the finish line I saw that I ran the event in 39:04 - yes, you read that right. 39:04 - I shaved off 8 minutes off of my time! I felt AMAZING! Just amazing. This was a HUGE victory for me. I felt so proud. I have myself to thank, my body to thank, my friend to thank for motivating me across that finish line - and my husband to thank. He was waiting at the finish line for me with a big ole' smile and it felt really cool that my hubby was there rooting for me.
AMAZING!
Tags: activity
Comment
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Comment by Mrs. Ballou on November 9, 2009 at 4:30pm - YAY!!!! That is awesome!!! Congratulations!!! This makes me feel less nervous about my first 5k coming up! :)
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Comment by Heather on November 9, 2009 at 4:21pm - It is AMAZING! Look at what you accomplished. You did great and congratulations. You shaved off time and you finished. See I told you that YOU are doing amazing things. You don't need a scale to tell you how AWESOME you are!
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Comment by Nimi on November 9, 2009 at 12:30am - That is FANTASTIC! And what a great moment to share with your friend! Well done!
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Comment by Liz on November 8, 2009 at 10:55pm - CONGRATULATIONS! What a great finish, you should be really, really proud of yourself. Looking forward to reading about future running successes. :)
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Comment by Amanda on November 8, 2009 at 7:46pm - CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! This was EXACTLY what I've been needing to read lately. I'm having a lot of doubts about how much I can get into the running and you really helped to inspire me. Thanks and congrats again, that's so awesome!!!
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