As you may have read on my facebook status, I finished my first 5k! What a great experience...great friends and family cheering me on in spirit and in person. The day before I was feeling nervous that I wouldn't be able to keep up and would be the last one over that finish line. The morning of the race, I got up early to get ready and felt excited to see how I would hold up. As we got to the race, I felt inspired by all the people around me, stretching, warming up and smiling with friends. A great way to start a day...I walked over to the table with my friends and when they asked if we registered as a runner or walker, I heard myself say, "I am a runner". Wow...I can't believe it was my first step toward actually getting to a place I didn't think I could make it. I proudly pinned on my number and put my tag on my sneaker. I felt on top of the world and filled with anticipation!
Before I knew it, we were heading to the starting line. I was nervous I wouldn't be able to keep up and feel embarrassed. But I reminded myself it was my first run and I would just have to try my best, even if I walked a little. As we started it out, I felt so amazed to be running with all these fit people..a great start! I kept up with the pack for a little and then I started to fall back as I set my own pace. Before I knew it, I had to take a short walk to catch my breath. Within a minute, I started my jog again. I could see my friends ahead of me, keeping their own pace. I tried to keep up within sight of them. As we passed the first mile mark, I was surprised to see that I had done it in 11 minutes! My fastest mile yet...I kept on the best I could, jogging a few minutes than walking a minute like I did in training. Half way through, I realized that I couldn't really see any more of my friends but tried not to loose faith in myself. I pushed myself as hard as I could. During this leg of the race, the first pack was ahead of me quite a ways and the second pack was behind me. I was in the middle, feeling a little lonely and not even part of the race since not many people were around me. I tried to find a person or two who seemed to pace like me. I started to feel like I may have made a mistake as my lungs were bursting and I was feeling pressure to catch up to my friends, at least in sight. As I was getting ready to do the last leg, a kind woman who was also running about my pace said that as we rounded the bend, a photographer would be taking pictures so I should get my best "running pose" ready and smile! So as we rounded the corner, I put my big tired smile on and tried to soak in the moment of ending my first race. My face looked like a tomato, I was pretty sweaty but felt like I needed to find my energy to pull it out in the end. No more walking, everyone was watching now. So, I rounded the last stretch. I saw families along the side andspotted my friend's family..I felt energized as I saw them and kept running as I slapped them high five! As I searched the crowd for my clan, I saw my daughter's smiling face cheering me on as she caught my eye! Gavin ran up next to me and said, "GO Mommy! You can do it!" I was about out of steam and could have used a one minute walk but I knew I had to keep going. Next thing I knew, my friends came up and started cheering me on and ran with me my last steps of the run..it felt amazing to have so much support and encouragement around me! Wished I could hold on to the moment a little longer but I needed to spend my energy crossing that finish line! It was a wonderful moment to cross and have reached my goal! I was definately surprised to see that I had crossed in 38 minutes! My best time yet! And I was feeling like I wasn't running well throughout the race. I was so happy because my goal was that I would do the run in 45 minutes. I did it thanks to my supportive friends and family cheering me on and helping me feel like I had accomplished something great, even though I had been the slowest in my group.
I thought that when I'd crossed that finish line, I would put this running thing behind me and do something else but now I am craving more. I want to do better and run faster and keep doing races. It was so exhilerating and challenging at the same time.
Here's to continuing to reach for better and on to my next goal..running a whole 5k without walking.
Thank God for the strength to keep getting stronger every day!
No comments:
Post a Comment