Rock N Stroll 5k

So, today was the big day!  The Rock N Stroll 5k.  My first 5k as a runner.

My sister has also been training for this 5k.  She sent me a message yesterday expressing her concern about being able to complete it.  She's been super busy all month... she's been out of town practically half the month and hasn't had the chance to train like scheduled.  She had decided that if she wasn't able to run the whole race today that she'd sign up for another 5k next weekend, hoping that having a back up goal would keep her from getting discouraged if she couldn't run this one.  I told her not to be too disappointed, she's come a very long way and should be proud of herself no matter what.  And I promised to push her through any disappointment if I had to.  =)  I like having her as a goal buddy, I don't want her to give up.  We have a half-marathon to do in October.  =)

I picked up my race packet on Friday, and I was a little disappointed in the tshirt.  There were two different races having packet pick up in the store that day, and the other race had a much cooler shirt.  I was jealous.  LOL

 

Anyway.  My alarm on my phone went off this morning at 7am and promptly froze as I tried to hit snooze.  By the time I got it to turn off and stop buzzing, I was wide awake.  No oversleeping for me.

I was actually more nervous about the parking situation than the actual race.  I hate parking downtown and I have absolutely no sense of direction.  I managed to park without any issue, but I had no clue where the start was in relation to where I was.  I saw two people walking in athletic gear, and decided to follow them.  At one point, there was a group of people with race bibs on walking the opposite way, and I thought "Hey, they're obviously running my race, so I should be following them." 

Um.  No.  After a few blocks, we met up with another group of people who asked us where the start was.  The group I was following said they didn't know, they were hoping the other people knew.  So there was a group of about 10 of us, lost as can be.  We did make it to the start on time... it turned out I should have followed the original couple.  Figures.

Then I started worrying about my sister.  I had texted her and tried to call her and no response.  I was worried about her oversleeping or something.  But she eventually found me and all was right with the world once again.

Yes, I rocked the Wonder Woman shirt.  Maybe by my next race I will feel a little more comfortable in it, but I'm proud of myself for wearing it today. I'm just not used to snug-fitting clothes.  But once I got there and saw how clingy most athletic shirts tend to be, I didn't feel like anyone would be all like "OMG, she left the house like that?"  =)  Oh, and Bill thought it was a Whataburger tshirt.  :::sigh:::

And then the race started.  I planned on sticking with my sister.  We run pretty much the same pace, and if she had gone to a walk, she walks as fast as she runs, so I still would have been fine.  =)  But I wanted to stay with her in case she felt like giving up, hoping that having me there would encourage her to push as far as she possibly could.

I wasn't all that concerned with whether or not I could do the distance, because I did it last week.  But I was concerned with the bridge we had to cross because I trained mostly on the treadmill and my outdoor routes are pretty flat.  But it wasn't too bad, really.  

I slowed to a walk just once to drink some water because I sloshed it all over my face trying to run.  

I had to stop very briefly to retie my shoe about mile 2.  I always double knot my shoes.  I don't know what I was thinking today.

We got close to what we thought was the finish line and I knew it wasn't 3.1 miles yet.  As we got closer there were volunteers there pointing the way to the real finish line.  I think my sister wanted to scream.  She was still there, by my side, by the way.  She had stopped running for maybe 5 seconds at one point and then decided there was no way she was giving up.  And she did not.

We saw the real finish line and the clock was reading 44:something.  I said, "there is no way that clock is hitting 45:00 with me on this side."  I just took off and jumped across the line like a crazy person.  I'm sure I looked like a dork.  I don't care.  My time was 44:35:53  =)  My sister was 44:35:86!  She finished the race!  She rocks.

I'm so happy.  Not one time did I ever want to quit, I felt great the entire time.  All the volunteers were just so friendly, all my lost people were super nice, I just loved every minute of it.  10 weeks ago, I really didn't think I'd ever be able to actually run 3.1 miles.  60 seconds was too much.  I'm just amazed at how far I've come.  Still intimidated by how far I want to go, but I don't think I can stop.  I can't say I'm in love with running itself, but the feeling of accomplishment.... what a high!  I'm definitely not stopping.

I'm going to try to work on getting a little faster when I do my weekday runs at the rec center, and then my weekend run will be distance.  I have 22 weeks or so until the half-marathon. 

I don't have any "real" races lined up until my half-marathon.  I have a few virtual 5ks, and I'm still planning on doing a virtual 10k for my sister and I in August (it may just be us, but I'll try to get other people to participate).  My sister mentioned a 5k in July she's thinking about registering for... the Firecracker Fast 5k.  It's mostly downhill and the record time for it is something crazy like 13 minutes.  Can you imagine?  I can't even run 1 mile in 13 minutes!  I'm thinking about it, though.  I worry about two things... I know people are more prone to injury running downhill and I'd hate to have a PR that I can't possibly beat in any other race!  

Oh, and wouldn't you know that today I discovered the Three Bridges Marathon... OMG!  It crosses the Clinton Bridge, the Big Dam Bridge, and the Two Rivers Bridge.  I love, love, love our bridges.  December 2013 is the inaugural race.  I still am not sure I'd ever go for a full marathon, but I'll be damned if these people aren't tempting me.