You’ve all got the mental picture now, don’t you? A goofy looking runner – well, I’m not all tall and gangly like Forrest Gump, but I’m pretty sure I look as goofy.
On Sunday I did my very first 5K race. My kids think I won. I didn’t tell them that I won. Honest. It’s just that after I told them I didn’t win about 20 times, I finally gave in and said, “Yes, I won.” They were happy.
In a way, I did win though. My best training time was just over 41 minutes, or a 12 minute mile. I came in at 35:46 (an 11:30 mile!), so I am pretty thrilled. My entire goal was to run the entire race, no walking, and come in around 39 minutes. Check check. I never imagined I could knock 5 full minutes off my time!
About 1/2 way through, I really wondered why the hell I ever decided to run this stupid race. It was hard and I was tired and my form was slowly disintegrating into pile of slump. (Which is a great way to get injured, by the way) But, I tried my best to buck up, pull in my core and straighten out. That didn’t work really very well, so I just held on for the rest of the run.
And then, right at the end, they announce “And here comes Michelle ___ from (my little wee town)” and I got a boost that even I didn’t think I had in me. I crossed that finish line triumphantly, albeit a little bummed because the timer read 51:– minutes, but still feeling a sense of “I DID IT”. Hey, 10 minutes earlier I would have been thrilled to lay down and die.
As it turned out, the timer was set for the half-marathon that started 15 minutes before, so my time was much better than I saw on screen. Ahh, the innocence of a newbie.
I managed to finish before the 10K winner (who started at the same time as the 5K) and see the half-marathon winner cross the finish line too. Man, could those guys run!
Anyhow, I am pretty excited, even today at how well I did. Now, I need to set a new goal I guess. Maybe 5K in 30 minutes?? My loving and oh-so-supportive brother suggested I could do his run – 5K in 25 minutes with 25 push-ups at each kilometer. Army boys are such show-offs.
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