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.
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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
