I did it! Last night, I participated in my first 3 mile fun run to celebration National Running Day!
Things started off kinda shaky. I went to the wrong park. Bwahahahaha The worst part is that my daughter told me I was going to the wrong one but I didn’t listen. Trust, she rubbed it in the whole drive over to the correct location. Once we made it to the right park, the nerves kicked in and I started shaking so badly that I could barely fill out the registration form.
We had our choice between a 1 mile walk/run, 2 mile walk/run, 3 mile walk/run, or a 5 mile run. I kept going back and forth between the 2 mile and the 3 mile run, but I decided to be ambitious and sign up for the 3 mile run. My daughter and my trainer both said they thought I could do it. And somewhere deep down inside I thought I could do it too.
Now let me tell you about this course, I walk this course just about every day. So I thought running it would be a cinch. Not. When you’re running you become painfully aware of each. and. every. hill.
I was able to run the first 1/2 mile with no problems, but the other 2 and a half almost hurt me. I know I wouldn’t have attempted that last mile if it hadn’t been for Reneatha, one of the ladies in my training group. She slowed her pace til I caught up with her and then she pushed {and pulled} me the last mile. She set running and walking goals for us, she gave me words of encouragement, and when it was all over, she congratulated me.
Do you know how great it is to have someone offer you encouragement when you want to quit? This woman could have left me and finished the race on her own but she stuck with me. We were the last ones to finish but we finished.
At first I started to get down on myself and then I remembered something: “Don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle.” The other ladies in my group chose the 2 mile option and the ones who ran the 5 miles are trained runners. This is my beginning. And someday I will reach my middle and I’ll go back and help someone who’s just starting out. Until then I will celebrate every step because it’s further than the last one.
I can improve. I will improve. And come 13 July, I’m going to rock my first 5K!
Official Time: 38 minutes 24 seconds
Distance: 3 miles
Date: 5 June 2013
Do you have any tips to help increase my speed and/or endurance?
Feel free to follow my training here on my blog and cheer me on as I RUN the Capaha Classic 5K on 13 July. You can watch my progress on Instagram and Twitter.
