Goal!

I did it! I ran my first 5k Sunday! No walking, no swearing under my breath -- and no tripping anyone else! It feels really good to have that first one under my belt and to have reached some of my personal goals. I guess it's official: I've traded in my cowboy boots for running shoes. 

Despite the weather forecast threatening a high potential for rain for race day, Sunday dawned clear and gorgeous. And early -- Daylight Savings Time meant my body was not only confused about the time, but also by the fact that I was running in the morning. With about 450 or so other people at the starting line, I decided to keep it low-key and start near the back of the pack. I'm not a fast runner (yet). My goal was to run the entire 5k in 42 minutes or maybe a little better (I told you I'm slow!). 


I was surprised when I saw the timer showing 12:22 at Mile 1. That's fast for me! Mile 2 rolled around, and the clock said 25 and change. Not bad! But then the question became: can I hold on to that pace? Nope. I got pretty tired (and dehydrated) around mile 2.5, but still finished just over 40 minutes. Humbling perspective: There was also a 10k going on at the same time, and several of those runners lapped me. The 10k winner posted a time just over 33 minutes. Do the math: that's less than six minutes per mile!


The best part of coming up to the finish line was seeing Brenda and Small there to cheer me on! Small was pretty excited, and it put a smile on my face and a little more bounce in my last steps. 

I'm definitely going to do another 5k. Gotta improve upon that time. I can only get stronger and faster. But first?  I have a 10k coming up in April that I have to train for. Now that I finished an actual 5k, I'm a bit intimidated by the idea of running TWICE as far in 6 weeks. Lots of work to do between now and then. The long-run mileage will be slowly creeping up toward that 6-mile mark. 


Hopefully, my pink feet won't fail me.