My first running 5k

Every year for the last three years my family and I have participated in McFarland's Firecracker 5000 fun run/walk. It's local and the money goes to a good cause. Plus, I really like to walk. This year I signed up the family as usual and we all did our normal non-preparation for the event.

A few days prior to the run/walk a strange idea came into my head--maybe I could run it this year, or at least run part of it! This is a very strange idea, as I hate running more than almost any other exercise, and that include push-ups. I am also not a pretty sight to watch when I am running. I love watching good runners, and their long, lean strides. Beauty in motion to me. My short, squat body is anything but beautiful to watch when running.

On Saturday morning--a beautiful, sunny day--we all went to the track to join 275 other people. We started off running, and I kept going, the entire 3.2 miles. Amazing. I lost my son and husband after about .5 mile, but I got in the rythm of it an kept going. 32 min and 53 sec later, I finished my first "running" 5k. I was on a high all day long and I still can't believe I did it.

The last 4 months of my life have included a lot of time at the gym and not much weight loss, but this was a real accomplishment for me, and something I would not have been able to do prior to all my workouts. I am incredibly happy about this, something so small, but so big at the same time.

Are there more 5ks in the future? I think so, and then maybe a sprint tri? I'm already a good swimmer and biker. The only thing missing was the run. Something to think about. . .