challenging myself...

I made a decision to do something that has been on my "want to do" list for quite sometime. I decided I wanted to run a 5K. For me this is huge...I've have never been a good runner. One day I was on the Internet and decided to look up one of those "couch to 5K" plans. I was taking it very slow and didn't really have a particular 5K in mind. I was going to give myself plenty of time. Then I found out that my friend Jenna had also just started training for her 1st 5K and was about a week or so ahead of me. She was preparing for a 5K at the zoo for Children's Hospital. She gave me her training schedule and I decided to see if I could catch up to where she was so I could join her.

I began with the gym on the treadmill and followed her schedule of 6 minutes of running and 2 minutes of walking X 3. I actually held up very well -- and enjoyed it (if you can believe it). Just to prove to myself that I wasn't fooling around, I decided to do one more set of 6 & 2.Since that day, I would think about running all the time and was anxious to get out there and do it again. (Crazy, I know)

Shortly after, I started doing my training sessions outside in my neighborhood where the temperature and inclines proved to be much more challenging. The longer periods of running were tough and the pounding on the pavement brought on a hip pain issue. I'd hoped it wouldn't bring me down.

My race was Sunday and it was an amazing experience. I was pretty nervous and I figured I get passed up by many. I thought the race would take me at least 40 minutes -- especially if I stopped to walk at any point. The only small stop I made was about thirty seconds to catch my breath and take a drink of the water waiting at the half-way mark. There were other times I wanted to rest, but I kept telling myself that doing a 5k RUN -- not walk-- was my goal here.

As I neared the finish line, I was feeling the pain (in my hip and my breathing), but I had a real sense of accomplishment for doing something that I been really wanting to do.

As I crossed the line I saw my two girls cheering for me and to my surprise my mother-in-law, nephew and two nieces were there to see me finish. That extra support almost brought tears to my eyes. My husband greeted me at the end with pride and had timed my race for me (my actual "official" time was 33:54). I was so happy!