My First 5K!

So this morning I ran my first 5K ever!!  I am feeling really awesome!  First off, the feelings pre-race.  I was feeling pretty nervous.  I was worried I would be the last person.  I was worried I would get a terrible time- like be kicked off the course because I was too slow.  (They actually do that!)  I was worried because I was running with my aunt Emily (who is only 2 years older than me) who is in great shape and has been running for years, and I knew I was going to be pathetic in relation to.  I was worried I would sprain my ankle or something.  I was just nervous!  

But I was also excited!  My very first 5K!  Plus, last Saturday Faith and I ran 2.98 miles (in the ice and snow!!!) in 50 minutes, and I felt like I could keep going.  So I knew I would be able to finish it.  Just maybe not in the allotted hour. Plus Emily lives in Logan, and I don't get to see her very often, so I was excited about that.

Things I did not think about but probably should have: hills.  How hot/cold I might be.  Cars.  Carrying water.

How it went:  It went pretty well!  I did not anticipate hills, and the first half of the race was a gentle slope upward, with a BIG hill right in the middle.  It was terrible!  My track does NOT have hills.  I did not realize how much harder that would be!  So the first half, I was a little bit like- "I am going to be dying before I finish!"  But I looked back, and realized I was somewhere in the middle of the pack, which was a big relief.   And after the big hill, it was all downhill, so it felt really good for the last half.  I felt like I was doing awesome!  I was pushing myself to jog faster and walk faster during my intervals. 

Funny thing:  I wore a jacket over my tank top because I thought I might get cold.  But I was too hot, so I tied it around my waist.  Only it didn't like to stay tied.  So I pretty much ran the whole race holding the knot of my jacket right over my crotch.  I felt pretty stupid, but what else are you going to do? Ha ha!

Finishing:  We decided to run in the last little while.  My current interval is 30 sec running, 40 sec walking.  (And I do not feel bad about walking REALLY slow...)  And for the last stretch of the race we jogged faster than normal, for 1 min 20 sec straight.  And in the last 20 sec we sprinted.  I did not think I could do that!  (A side note from another attempt at ending in a sprint that ended really badly...)  But I did!  And I felt sooooo good!  It had started to drizzle, and the rain was so nice and cooling!  And I felt awesome!

Pre-Race Goals:  Avg Pace: Realistic:  Under 17 minutes per mile Hopeful: 15 something per mile

Total Time:  Realistic: Under an hour  Hopeful: 50 minutes or so

Actual times:  Avg Pace: 15:31 per mile (Yessss!!  Hit the hopeful goal!!)

Total Time:  48:28  (Yessss!!  Hot the hopeful goal again!!!)

Fastest Mile: 15:10

Fastest 1K: 9:16

I feel really good for hitting my goals, and for finishing the 5K!  It was an awesome run! :)

Running? Are you crazy?!?!

Hi, I am Amanda.  And I don't exercise.  Ever.  I hate it.  I mean, I'm not a sedentary person really, I just don't like organized exercise.  But I have recently been working on losing weight (30 lbs, YAY!) and decided I should add in some exercise.  Faith was asking if anyone wanted to train for a marathon with her, and for some reason, I was all- Yes!  Me!  I don't know why.  In fact, when I called my husband to tell him about it, he laughed for like 3 minutes straight before I could say anything else.
Really?
Thanks.
So, everyone was shocked, and me the most of all.  I mean, I haven't run since I was about 10.  Except for VERY short dashes (like to chase my kid, or something like that).  I was not on board.  I kept telling myself- You can still back out, it's not too late!  But I felt bad doing that.

And then we went to buy shoes.  The same day I decided.  Because Faith was soooo excited and wanted to get started right away.  I was hoping for a break.  Like a BIG break.  Like, maybe we would start after the holidays.  Anyway- back to the shoes.  Faith was telling me all about how cool it was because, get this, they VIDEOTAPE you running.  To see how you run.  And play it for you in slow motion.  WHAT??!!?  I don't want people to videotape me at all, let alone when I am running for the first time in over a decade.  So now I am feeling extremely anxious.
It wasn't so bad, though (although pretty much all the shoes were really ugly.)  I couldn't help but try to choose shoes I liked, but managed to (mostly) override my need for pretty things and focus on how my feet felt.  I think I ran around that store like 30 times, trying on shoes.  It was really tiring.  And I was sweating.  Oh, and didn't I mention that they put the shoes on for you?  SO yeah, my feet were feeling gross and I was pretty much humiliated.  But, I would recommend it, if you are going to run.  Good shoes are important, and worth the hit on your self-esteem.

So, Faith and I decided to run together on Saturday.  We are doing the run-walk method (which made me feel a little better.)  Plus, I was feeling not too bad about it because it has been years since Faith has run either.  The run was pretty uneventful, except for "The Tunnel Incident."  It was darkish, and there was a tunnel on the running path so that you could cross the street.  I have a thing with tunnels, ever since I lived in Argentina.  They are big crime spots there.  So I was pretty nervous about going in there, since it wasn't lit.  We peer into it, and we can see all the way through, and there is no one in it.  So we decide to run through it.  Well, about 1/3 of the way through it (it is not a very long tunnel) it's too dark and your vision has to adjust.  So you can't see anymore.  So I turn around, screaming like a little girl and run the other way.  I just can't do it.  Faith follows me, and we have a pretty good laugh.

Now that it's been a few weeks, I can't believe it!  I am actually LOVING this running thing!  I am getting the endorphins, plus the little glow you get when you don't have to be with your kids, plus the little glow that comes from a justified shopping spree (and yes, I LOVE my workout clothes!).  It is awesome!  I love it so much, and I kinda wish I could do it every day, except that my non-exercising legs need some recovery time.  It's the best!  EVER!  Yay for me!
(This is a post from our marathon-training blog: http://cupcakestomarathons.blogspot.com/ )