First Race

Last weekend I completed my first 5k... and I absolutely loved it. I have tried picking up running a whole lot of times and I just never really enjoy it. Last year I finally came to the point where I knew it was the best way for me to lose weight and keep it off.... but I still didn't like it. And once I saw that I was walking at about the same pace I was running I just wanted to give up completely.

But I've still tried to pick it back up over the last several months. This summer I fell into a pit of laziness. I don't know what it was. Probably a combination of record-breaking heat, losing my walking/running buddy, insane work hours, various trips, and busy schedules. None of those are good excuses, but I let myself become really lazy this summer. So when my friend Amy mentioned at the beginning of August that she signed up for a 5k in September and was looking for people to join her, I knew it was just the motivation I needed.

So even though I still remained fairly lazy, it did cause me to get up and get outside both walking and jogging. About a week before the race I jogged outside and was able to do 1 mile and I wanted to fall over (yes I'm that pathetic). It all goes back to the fact that I am terrible at pacing myself outside.

I went in to the 5k knowing I would probably walk most of it and get in some jogging. When my friend Amy told me that she usually kept an 11 to 11:30 pace I knew I wanted to stick close to her.

So we did most of it together and I am excited to say I jogged almost the entire thing. There was a hilly bridge and I jogged it on the way there, but walked up on the way back. Everything else I jogged.

I think my official chip time was 35:13. I'll take it!

Now I just have to remind myself on my daily workouts that I did 3 miles, so I can do it again!