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.

Weekly Update #7

It was a light week because I had a sick child for a few days and my first 5K is on Saturday morning.  I hope to do well, but I'm pretty nervous.  I haven't run a race as an adult, so I'm not sure what to expect.  I'll update tomorrow after the race.

Here are my workouts for the week.

• Saturday-Rest
• Sunday-hiked 4+miles at Bot Gardens
• Monday-interval training; weights
• Tuesday-walked 3/4 mile (sick child)
• Wednesday-walked 1 mile (sick child)
• Thursday-walked 3/4 mile
• Friday-Rest

In Honor of Nicolas

I have chosen my first 5K!  I will be running (& walking) the 3rd Annual Butterfly Dreams 5K on September 4, 2010.  To encourage me to train, I'm choosing races that have a special meaning to me.

Let me introduce you to my friend, Nicolas.  Nicolas is an awesome little boy who has Autism.  He is one of the sweetest little boys you will every meet.  Nicolas goes to our church and we've become good friends with his family.  Nicolas has very attentive parents (Bonny & Stephen) who are doing everything in their power to give Nic-Nic all the opportunities in the world.  His big sister, Natalie, is always there to help him out, too.

So, why did I choose this race to be my first?  Butterfly Dreams Farm is a therapeutic riding and hippotherapy farm in our community.  The farm serves children with a variety of special needs, but one of those is autism.  According to their website, hippotherapy aids the children by:

The horses walking gait almost perfectly simulates the movement of a child walking. This provides the perfect opportunity for children with motor deficits to develop muscle strength, normalize tone, and gain endurance. This movement also facilitates improved auditory and verbal processing, communication and interactive skills.

Although, Nicolas doesn't currently have therapy at Butterfly Dreams, I am very thankful to have such a wonderful opportunity right in our own neighborhood.  I want to support these types of local businesses so that they can continue to provide for our friends and neighbors (and possibly our family, as well).

I want to challenge you.  What will do you to make sure that opportunities such as these remain in your community?