Tuesday, April 5, 2011

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!

5 comments:

Dollar General said...

That's SO cool! And of course you know you look A-MAZING!! So proud!!

Anonymous said...

You should sign up for the Casey's Cause 5K or 10K run in Trussville. Go to their website www.caseyscause.org for more information. Tons of fun for the whole family (including bounce houses and more)...there's even a 1 mile fun run for anyone but especially good for getting the little ones in. It's on May 7th this year. Go to You Tube and search for Casey's Cause and it should be the first video to pop up. But get your tissues ready.

Shalita said...

IMPRESSIVE!!! I am amazed at your stamina and willpower to keep running! Keep up the good work! I will pray that your knee heals!

Way to go on your results! You look INCREDIBLE!!!

memesangels said...

You did great sis. Very proud of you. Glad you're doing something you liked and something that gives you some time for yourself.

Silena Cvacho said...

This tells you how much running DOESN'T enter my mind... when I saw the title for your post- I was thinking 5year old Kindergarten... you know 5K!! ;) You did an awesome job... what an inspiration!! Love ya!