My first 5k

Let me start off with a big ol' I DID IT! I finished the race AND I didn't come in last! Please forgive my lack of photos...I had the best of intentions to grab the camera, however, I was so nervous that I forgot it. Story of my life!

The day started off well. I slept well the night before and woke up rested. I had my usual breakfast of coffee and oatmeal. I kept checking the weather since I knew storms were in the forecast. Luckily there was nothing on the radar! As the morning went on, I got more and more nervous. I kept telling my husband I didn't want to go. Thankfully, he knows not to take me seriously! He kept asking why I was so nervous since I had been training for this. I put it to him like this:

How often do I do something this far out of my comfort zone...alone?

His answer: "Never."

Exactly. Going outside of my comfort zone is the precise reason I signed up for this race. I wanted (needed?) to prove to myself that I am capable of pushing myself farther than I ever have.

Once we got to the race site, it started to drizzle. My mood definitely went from nervous to mad! I didn't bring a hat and wasn't prepared for running in the rain. But, I sucked it up and dealt with it. Thankfully, the drizzle stopped before race time.

As the race was about to begin, I suddenly found myself at the front of the pack. I knew this was NOT where I needed to be so I stepped to the side and found my spot more towards the middle. Then they fired the gun and we were off!

I kept up a pretty good pace and only walked 3 times for about a minute each time. I don't really remember a lot of the actual course - other than I was scouting out all the houses for sale in the neighborhood. I'm sure none of them we could afford but a girl can dream, right?! I kept up with the same two girls throughout the whole course. It was kind of nice to have people around me going my same pace. I definitely fed off their energy to keep going.

I hit the two mile marker around 23 minutes in so I knew I was making good time. My personal goal was to finish between 36 and 40 minutes so I was right on target. Once I got to a spot where I could see the finish line, I anxiously looked all over for Mark and Colin. I knew they would be somewhere near the finish line and I just wanted to see them. Finally, I found them and once Mark saw me, he kept pointing at me for Colin and I could hear him saying "Here comes Mama!". Of course, I started to tear up and was in full tears as I crossed the finish line.

I was all by myself when I crossed that line and it felt so amazing! There was a crowd of volunteers clapping and cheering me on. It was like my own little Victory Lane!

The results aren't posted yet but Mark told me he thinks my time is around 36:35. Not too shabby! I've definitely been bitten by the race bug. I've talked my hubs in to training for a 10k in September and I'll be doing another race this summer with my bestie, Jaci!