1st 5K….Completed!

I can’t believe I just said that! This has been a goal of mine for years…and I am serious when I mean…years! I have done the famous Couch to 5K program and quit before the schedule finished and then started back up just to quick again. I would gawk at lean runners sweeping passed me and whisper to myself “One day I will run a 5K”.

Well…yesterday…I did. I ran my 5K and I didn’t stop…not once!

It was a gorgeous day in California. The sky was clear and the energy was bright. I got there right as the last wave of marathoners and half-marathoner were about to make there way and you could feel the excitement. Everyone was wearing there bibs, proud of their numbers and training. Family and spectators will cheering signs and music playing to get everyone pumped. I can’t believe I was part of over 27,000 runners for one main goal….to cross that finish line.

Of course I couldn’t have done any of this with out my amazing trainer…who literally pushed me to the finish line! He told me in the very beginning, when I almost passed out at my first workout, that he would run with me in my first 5K…and we did it!

Before I started I was a nervous wreck. I tossed the night before and envisioned everything I was going to do. What I was going to eat and drink and how I was going to start. I knew I didn’t want to expel all my energy in the beginning from excitement and nerves so we took it slow for the first mile and allowed people to pass as as they did. At mile 1 my time was about 13:28 which is about average for me but I knew I should have gone faster. Some of these streets had inclines and slants which was interesting too. Mile1-2 seemed like forever since there was not much of a scenery…I think that’s why I am contemplating the half marathon (am I crazy???) They run along the sand and have more of a scenic view.

Then I hear the music…that’s when I knew we were in for our last mile. OK so I am trying to push it and this is where its getting crowded. Narrow lanes are forming and walkers/runners are stopping and going at the same time. I wasn’t too prepared for that. I’m so used to running alone on empty streets and now there are a thousand people walking and running around me.

I could hear the bands music getting louder and louder and finally about half a mile away I saw that finish line. My trainer kept telling me to go faster and faster and I knew sprinting up that mild incline,wasn’t going to happen, but I did go faster. I ran through that finish line just like he said and it was amazing!

My time was 41:02…second fastest. Not too bad even though I wanted my goal to be under 40min. I couldn’t take in the finish line as  much as I wanted to..well..because…I had to run to the uhh….well you can see it behind me.

1st 5K…Check! I think I am hooked. Signing up for the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning.I think this has been a love/hate relationship and so far I am loving it! And who knows…maybe a half marathon by next year? Maybe I’m pushing it?!

Happy Running!