Saturday was the day. 5K day. I had been training for many weeks. I was pretty sure I was ready to conquer this mountain. Last Monday, I pushed really hard and ran 3 miles in almost exactly 30 minutes. Not an easy feat for these short legs to maintain 6 mph for 30 straight minutes...
I was lucky enough to have several ladies running with me. Ladies from my "old" ward that I miss, but thankfully still get to associate with, maybe just a little less frequently. Big shout out to Aleisha, Lori, Jessica, Jen, and Shelby for carpooling with, encouraging, and supporting me--you guys rock.
My original goal was just to run the whole race--no walking. Then once I realized that goal was pretty attainable, I set a new one: under 35 minutes. Then after Monday, I realized that even that goal was not going to push me hard enough, so I set a new, secret goal that I didn't tell my friends. That new goal was to beat all of them. What can I say--I'm competitive!!! I reached all 3 goals. I ran my first-ever 5K in an official time of 30:25.9!!! I ran the whole way. I beat my next-closest friend by about a minute and a half. AND--I got 8th place in my age group!! Success!!
I wanted to die once I finished, probably just because I pushed super-hard, especially the last quarter-mile, or so. But now that a couple days have passed, I'm ready to make a new goal. I think I will run a 10K this fall, and next year for the Potato Marathon, I want to run the half marathon--why not? I have proven I can do hard things--and that's what makes me want to keep going--that amazing feeling of setting a goal that seemed really hard and then reaching it--what a feeling!!!
Aleisha, Lori, Jessica, Me, Jennifer, and Shelby just before the race.
Shelby, Me, Lori, and Aleisha after the race sporting our hard-earned t-shirts.
