mama's first 5k...

so with it being spring time, and summer (aka- swimsuit season) is just around the corner, i thought about what i could do to shape up some. i've finally lost all my baby weight from trace and lucas, and i would love to continue getting in shape. a few of my friends have started running, and it got me thinking about it. i mean, i used to run in high school. granted that was 10 years ago... but still. :o) i decided to start slow and i knew i wanted a program to follow. i looked into the couch to 5k program and thought i could handle it. the one i'm following is a 9 week program, running 3 times a week. but let me add here, my friend libby's dad is a running coach and has his own program here if you want to check it out! the reason i'm not doing it is b/c it's more than 3 times a week. and he also has a running group, but it's hard enough for me to run on my own, much less at a set time. anywho. so i was on week 5 last week of c25k, and i wanted to see kinda where i was and what i could do. so i registered for the big springs 5k in springville. even though my program is a 9 week program, and i had only completed to week 5! so yeah, i was so nervous after i registered! so thursday nite, week 5 day 3 of my training, i skipped my regular workout, which called for a 20 minute jog. and instead i did a practice 5k (which is 3.1 miles) and fnished in 33:49. my goal was 35 so i was pretty happy with that. friday nite i went to pick up my race packet and i was super nervous... i wondered if i was really ready for a 5k! like, a real one, with 300+ runners! 

 since nate was still out of town, my parents came to the house to watch the boys while i ran my first 5k. i was excited, but still so nervous. i could barely eat anything!

i got to the race a little early, and stretched and did some warm ups. it was sooo cold. my hands were FREEZING! below is a pic of me, right before the race! in my bright pink track jacket of course! ;o) i ran the race and tried my best to pace myself. i started out slow, on purpose... at mile one i saw i was a little slower than i needed to be, so i stepped it up some. once i got to mcdonald farms, i ran up the hill, and knew it was literally all down hill from there. that was at mile two. then i kicked it into gear! once i got to hwy 11 and heard people cheering, i knew i was almost to the end! i saw my sweet friend ashley and heard her cheering for me! that made me sprint to the finish line! unofficially, i finished right under 32 minutes. i am waiting on official results for my time, and also to see where i placed overall, as well as in my age division!

 here i am... after the race! the cute jacket came off at mile one! :) i was sooo thankful for such a beautiful, sunny day. it warmed up some, and there wasn't a cloud in the blue sky!

 i wanted a picture in front of the finish line... but didn't want to hike down to it again. so it's way back there, in the distance! :) thanks ash for the pics. proof that i ran, and that i finished! :)

all in all, i was happy with my first race since my cross country days at hewitt... way back when! :)

one bummer though, my knee started hurting last week when i upped my workouts. i sucked it up and ran thru the pain saturday during the race. but i'm paying for it now and hurting. i haven't run since then, so my knee is slowly feeling better. but i'm not sure how smart it is to keep running while "injured." i have 4 more weeks of the c25k program, and i really really want to finish hard. and there's another race i want to run on april 29. so now i have to figure out what to do about my injury. well, actually i don't think i'm injured, b/c i used to have lots of problems with my knees in high school. but i guess i need to decide what best helps most: a brace, orthodics (which i had in my old runnin' days. they seemed to help, so i hope to get some new ones and i'm really hoping that will fix some of my pain!) or what!?

ok. so for all 4 of you who read my blog, i will update when i find out the official race results. also, i will keep you updated on my knee and running and stuff. as if you care... ha.

** UPDATED ** race results are in. my time was 31:53, i finished 10th in my age division of women age 20-29, and i finished 91st overall out of 321 runners i think. :) not too bad... for my first 5k in 10 years, only 5 out of 9 weeks of practice, and a bum knee!