5K - Part I

I have officially completed my first 5K, and while I may not be one of the few to run one or anything like that, not everyone can say they've ran in one. Also, coming from a non-runner such at myself this is a monumental event. I still can't say I enjoy running but I do enjoy the fact that I ran in a 5K, does that make sense?


So, on with the show. I ran my 5K. Although I felt better and ran faster on my training run the weekend before I finished it, and I even survived it. I had a very condensed training program where I double up on training days and barely squeezed 12 weeks into 9 weeks. I was getting a little concerned that while I may be able to run for 30 minutes without stopping but could I run 3.1 miles without stopping? The C25K program stupidly surprisingly figures that if you can run for 30 minutes without stopping then you will cover 3.1 miles. Not true my friends. Not true.


So, I mapped out 3.1 miles, I plugged in my iPod since I'd been using my phone with the C25K app on it, laced up my running shoes, and took off. My goal was to finish my training run in under 45 minutes and to not walk AT ALL. My husband a seasoned runner gave me the advice of "if you feel tired and like you need to walk, you can always just slow down". 


I was almost to the halfway point before I officially slowed down. I still felt pretty good the whole way really. The sun was shining, the weather was ideal. I had no side cramps and my knees weren't hurting. Over the course of 3 months I found that I had a pretty even mix of physical and mental barriers to push through during my runs but on this day I felt awesome. 


As I rounded the corner to my final stretch of pavement I really turned on the gas and powered through to the end. I got to the end, looked at my time and saw I finished in 41 minutes! Mostly though I didn't walk one single time. As I walked towards my house on my cool down, you probably could have seen my smile from space. I was ecstatic and very proud of myself. I *may* have teared up a bit thinking about how far I'd come. I got home and hurriedly shared the news of my run with my husband and he gave me a huge hug and told me how proud of me he was and I started really crying then. Happy tears, but tears.


I had done it. I had ran 3.1 miles and without stopping once to boot. I was certainly ready to run my real 5K the following Saturday. Or was I?