Winning the race of ME

After one week (3 runs) post knee injury, I got a wild hair to run a 5k :)  I decided that in order to gauge myself I needed to have a baseline.  I had set a goal of doing the 8 week couch to 5k trainer and continue training until my registered 5k in October.  My goal for October was to finish in less than an hour.  How did I know if an hour was good?

I started 5k training the beginning of June with the mile average of 24. something minutes.  Using my Nike+ GPS, I started to keep a better track and could tell that my time was slowly dwindling down : )  PROGRESS!

So, I went to do the 2012 Beef & Eggs 5k in Brookings, SD. 

I got my number.  I stretched.  I got nervous.  Started my music. Lined up and went.  I tried to do what I have done in my 5k training program.  I walked the first 5 blocks fast and then jogged every other block for as long as I could and then walked some more.  When I hit my first mile..I was averaging  just oover 16 mins :)  It was long, I went through many emotions, but I was determined not to quit...I had to finish.

I did finish!  I was the last person to finish, but I came in at 55 minutes :)  5 minutes under my goal for October's race! I averaged just over 18 minutes a mile.  So, now I have 7 more weeks of 5k training and almost 3 months total to speed up, and try to reach my new goal for October of 40 minutes :) and jog the whole thing !!

I am so thankful for my family and friends for their support!  Especially my husband and his best friend, Joeybear.  I talk to Joeybear about running alot and when I complain about not being fast enough or thin enough, he encourages me with "WTF are YOU doing?" reminding me, that regardless I am doing it for me and doing more than others who might be haters!  I used that mantra my entire first 5k to keep me going, and took a picture of my sweaty post race ass print on the sidewalk so all the haters can kiss it ! : )

I plan to run my next 5k on August 4, 2012 to see what progress I can make.

There is not better rush, than winning a race with yourself!

Charmaine