The Uphill Battle

Today I ran my first 5k in California. My 5k history started about two years ago in Las Vegas when Stephen and I ran 2 races in Las Vegas. Those first two 5k's were very difficult and I can remember thinking to myself that I will NEVER run 3 miles without walking because it's just too hard! Well, I can no longer say that of myself.

Since I moved to California in June I started my training pretty much immediately. I have either been running or walking a 5k five days a week since. It was only about a month ago when the 5k began to be easier and I ran all of it more than not. So, those memories of "never being able to run 3 miles" were long behind me. I set a goal for myself...to find a 5k to run by sept/oct and run the whole thing in a race. Before I go on I have to define "run." I have never been a distance runner. In High School I was a sprinter. Distance just wasn't my thing and I HATED running long distances. You can imagine how difficult 3 miles seemed in my mind after all the sprint training I had in my youth. As I run my 5k's, to me, I'm running. To any other die hard runners, I'm positive they will say I'm jogging. My speed is between 10 1/2 and 11 min per mile. Although not fast, to me its just the right pace....for now.

Today came quickly and I had to prove to myself that I could do it. I could run the whole 5k without walking. I didn't know what the course was (which was probably a blessing) so I just went with the flow. I have been training on a pretty flat course around my neighborhood and haven't done hills at all. Low and Behold, this course today had HILLS! No kidding HILLS! But I took it in stride (no pun intended) and just told myself, in my mental conversations, "It's alright, you can do this, just slow down a little if you have to, but push through it. It'll all be over soon and you'll be happy you did it...hills and all." The first mile was not too bad, despite the smallish hills I wasn't expecting, but then came the next 1 1/4 miles...OMG! When I saw what I had to run up I almost defeated myself, but alas, I stuck with it and persevered. Despite feeling like I was gonna throw up, my legs felt good, no pain, no exhaustion. I concentrated on controlling my breathing and kept looking forward to the down hill run I knew was coming, because what goes up must go down. And boy did that hill go down! It was pretty steep and I was grateful to relax my legs and my breathing and just let the road take me down. I was greatful that the last 3/4 mile as all either flat or downhill. Then came the excitement of my cheering section! I couldn't wait to get to the finish line and see Stephen and the kids waiting for me to cross it. I was so excited to tell them that I DID IT! I RAN A WHOLE 5K IN A RACE! Something I couldn't do 2 years ago, let alone, 3 months ago. And I even ran steep hills to boot and I didn't die! So, for the last 50 yards, in true sprinter fashion, I kicked it into gear and sprinted, yes, SPRINTED, across the finish line. According to Andrew I finished the race in 33:42. I guess we will see if he's right in a few days if they post the race times online.

Meganne was soooo funny! She brought her pom poms and was my little cheerleader girl and asked me "Mommy, did you win?" I said to her, "No I didn't win the race, but I won for myself, because I ran the whole race, I didn't walk and I ran up some killer hills!" She was proud of me and gave me a big hug. As for Alexander, well, he's a 14 year old...what more can I say other than I got him to pose for a picture with me. He did say good job once I think. Anyway, now I have to come up with a new goal for myself because in just less than a month I'm running the color run in Pamona. Back to training on Monday!!!