My first 5k!

I did it! I ran my very first 5k on May 6th! It was not the Chariots of Fire experience I had envisioned in my head, but I ran the whole time and wasn't last, so that is good enough for me.

I went to my Weight Watchers meeting first thing and was only down .2, so I was already in a frustrated mood. We get to the race, sign in, and wait. And wait. And wait. They finally call us to the start line. At this point, my innards are roiling and I am ready to heave into a bush. On your mark, get set, go! I start running, as does everyone else. And everyone else passes me! People pushing strollers, a guy in his 70's, people bigger than I am, all running faster. I think to myself, it's ok, I have really short legs, those fat people are taller, so of course they are going to go farther with every step! At half a mile I am thinking, what the hell am I doing here? I am LAST! This is totally demoralizing! But I keep going b/c I think of my babies, and that I don't want them to think of their mom as a quitter or a loser. Ok, so they are 3 and 1 and wouldn't know the difference, but thinking that kept me moving. At 1 mile I am thinking, what am I nuts? I am going to attempt a triathlon and I want to stop at 1 mile of running?! At 2 miles we turned a corner and all of the sudden I could see that I was not last! There were people behind me! Ok, so it was a Star Jones look alike - pre-diet- and a couple of senior citizens, but I wasn't last! WOO-HOO!!!! I powered up a hill and BAM passed someone! Powered down the hill and passed someone else!

At this point, I am thinking, ok, I can do this. I wasn't tired really, I wasn't sucking wind, so why was I so frustrated? I don't know. I have terrible doubts in myself about my ability to do just about anything. I can't think of a time when I didn't have a negative dialog going with myself about myself. Anyway, I kept going, and there was Chuck about a half mile from the end, already done and telling me to keep going. Another 1/4 mile and there was Alyson yelling "GO MOMMY! RUN MOMMY RUN!". I kept running. Then the last push to the end I sprinted like my life depended on it. My time was 32:30. Not too shabby for a first timer I think, and at least I know now how much more I need to improve before September.

I topped off the weekend on Sunday with a 7 mile bike. Today my legs are cursing me out, so I only did my Core Strength class this AM. My legs better be ready b/c we are running tomorrow!