I did a 5k!

Last Saturday I did an official 5k, the Houston Race for the Cure. It was much more emotional than I thought it would be. I have been blessed, and no one I know personally has been effected by breast cancer, but my Mom and Gramma have had scares in the last year. Gramma's doctor even said she had experienced a miracle, since it had been there on two separate ultrasounds, and the third time it was gone. Seeing whole families running in memory of their mom, nana, aunt, and sister, was really hard.

My Mom, Dad, and Ava came with, and we had the best timing, getting there about 10 minutes before it started. They did the 1 mile family walk, and I had just enough time to get in the middle of the Competitive Timed Runners (me!).

Since my previous time on my own was around 43 minutes, I had hopes that I could finish under 40 minutes. I ran the entire first mile, which I had never done before, and set my fasted mile yet at 10'44"! The rest of it was mostly running, with a few breathers here and there. As soon as I would break to a walk I felt waves of people passing me and I had to pick it back up!

My official finish time, 40'28". My Nike+ time, 39'38. On the one hand, I am bummed that I didn't break 40 minutes. However in my defense, the actual finish line was kind of a blur. I had planned on killing the last few hundred meters, and had I known where it was I would have picked it up. By the time I figured out it was close, the timing mats were right in front of me. However, even knowing that the Nike+ system is a little generous, it's been what has been keeping my time so far, so breaking 40 minutes there is still an accomplishment measured next to my other personal 5k's I've done.

Everyone told me they were addictive, but I'm not a competitive person. But I can honestly say I can't wait to do another. I'm really bummed that I can't find anything in Alaska until May, but that's just training time, as Eddie says. I'm committed to do a half-marathon next year and I can't wait!