I DID IT!

I ran my first 5K on Saturday morning.  It was exhilirating.  I found out about this 5K from the youth group at my church.

I knew I could run it.  I just finished a 12 week conditioning program so a 5K would be nothing compared to what I had put myself through.

My oldest daughter and I ran it together.  We started off slow and steady at about a 5 mph pace.  After the first mile, her ankle started bothering her (too much tumbling) and we had to really slow down.  She would walk a while then catch up to me.  By the 2nd mile, she was really hurting and told me to keep going.  So, I sped up a bit to a little faster pace and set my breathing to automatic. 

When I got to the last mile marker, I started to pick up the pace again.  All of a sudden, my daughter runs right past me and I’m trying to catch up to her.  When we got to the last 3 blocks she turned on the turbo boost and I was fighting to catch up.  We both sprinted to the end and were pretty darn proud of ourselves.

She finished with a time of 32:14 and I finished with a time of 32:33.  We are already planning our next race.  I can now see how people get addicted to these races. 

Running a 5K may seem a little too much for you right now, but you can set your sights on a goal to run a mile by the end of the summer.  Break it down in bits and pieces.  There are several websites available that give you specific guidelines for achieving a running goal.  Here are a couple:

http://www.jeffgalloway.com

http://www.runnersworld.com

http://running.about.com/od/beginnersrunningprograms/a/4weeks1mile.htm

http://www.ehow.com/how_2133898_run-mile-treadmill.html
Now, I’m not much of an endurance runner.  I love my sprinting intervals, but I will do an endurance run maybe once or twice a week.  It’s never fast.  Slow and steady is the name of my game, but challenging myself is something I like to continually do.

Challenge yourself today.

Hugs~~