My First 5K!

 

Yesterday was my first 5K race (as an adult).  I think I might have participated in some as a child or teen.  Since this was my first race, I wanted to pick something meaningful.  I chose the 3rd Annual Butterfly Dreams 5K.  You can read all about why I chose this race here.

It was a glorious day here with a glimpse of fall.  The sky was clear and the temperature was great (in the high 60s at the start of the race).  I was excited and nervous and happy to be checking one of my goals off my list.  I has moments where I was afraid I wouldn't be able to complete the race.  It was silly for me to think that way, since we regularly hike more than a 5K on the weekends with the kids.  However, when you are nervous, you aren't always rational.

Carole* (of Classic Race Services) called us to the starting line and gave us instructions.  Then we were off.  The course was through a pretty neighborhood with lots of rolling hills.  I wouldn't consider it an easy course, but it wasn't really difficult either.  Overall, it was a lot of fun.

My goal was to simply finish the race.  In the back of my mind, I wanted to finish under an hour.  I did that, too.  My official time was 53.23.1, which is a 17.13 min/mile.  I wasn't last, which was also a mental thing with me.  I did a combination of walking and running.  I wish I could have run more of the race, but I just wasn't ready for that.  

 This is a horrible picture, but it is me at the finish line.  My son wanted to run the last short leg of the race to the finish line with me.

I've set a new goal and I am going to run one 5K a month until the end of the year and see how much I improve.  I have several races for October and November to consider.

The family!  (My son is hiding behind us.  He was grumpy.)

So, that was my first 5K experience.  I'll do that again!

*Carole is a friend of mine from graduate school.  We both went to UGA for our MEd in Mathematics Education.  Upon graduation, we went our separate ways to different schools.  After a few years, we were both teaching at the same school (Morgan County High School).  We taught there for a year together before I quit to stay home and she left to go to another school.  We've crossed paths many times over the years.  She is still a teacher and took over the operations of Classic Race Services when her partner (Will) died earlier in 2010.  It was great to see her again and I know that I will participate in CRS races in the future.