Pounding The Pavement

So I did it. My 5k. I ran my little heart out.

Before I tell you all about it though I have to apologize. There are no pictures! I know! I was sad too! Greg and I ran out of the house so early this morning that we didn't even THINK about the camera. Before we left we went through the list of things I needed to run: Watch, check. iPod, check. Water bottle, check. Sunglasses...shoot. I ran in and got the sunglasses. We didn't think of the camera.

What we didn't know is that we would get there 40 minutes before the race would start and that we probably had time to go get the stupid thing and be back before the race even began. Oh well.

So I had butterflies before the race started. Greg was helping by saying things like, "Can you believe it? You are here to run a 5K!!!" and I would say, "Heck, ya!" and then be nervous. It probably would have helped if I hadn't gotten there so darn early.

They gave us a five minute warning and we all lined up. My iPod ear thingys kept coming out of my ears, but I fixed it. The race started and I was off. I thought it was totally weird to run with so many people around me. I can't say I enjoyed that part all that much. I worried that I was going to make someone trip or that someone else was going to make ME trip. And there was a gross dude that was wearing teeny tiny gold silk running shorts and nothing else. He looked very...breezy. I tried to avert my eyes when I saw him so that I didn't throw up.

I hadn't even gone 2 blocks of the race when I started getting teary-eyed. I was doing it! I was running! Me, Emily. The one that before March could never even run 2 minutes without feeling the barf coming on. And now? I was running 3 miles! It was a very emotional experience for me and it was all I could do not to lose it.

I wanted to whoop and holler. When I reached the 2 mile marker there were two people standing there, directing us where to go. The lady clapped her hands and I yelled, "WHOOP!" and pumped my fist in the air. She was surprised and we all laughed. (Well, they laughed and I tried to breathe) It was the motivation I needed though, the race information said that the track was flat and easy and there were hills right at the end. Small hills, but hills none the less. I am used to running on completely flat streets of subdivisions, so this was a lot different.

Right before the last little hill I looked to the left and saw Greg and the boys. A-Boy and Mini-Man were both saying, "Yay, Mom!" and clapping to their hearts content. I got all teary again. After the race a woman came up and asked me if those were my kids. I told her yes and she said that she was ALMOST to quit but when she passed them they cheered her on and she kept going. Yay for my boys!

I made it to the end in 32 minutes. Not great, but great for me! By the time I made it to Greg I had full-on tears streaming down my face. He was worried until I told him they were GOOD tears. I did it! My first 5k.

Spending the last five months training for this day has really taught me a lot. I have learned that if I set small goals each day, I can achieve them. On the first day of training I couldn't even run a block, let alone 3 miles. Life is not much different. If we have a goal that seems unattainable, we just need to take it step by step. If we work on it little by little every day, we can achieve our greatest desires.

I have truly found something that I enjoy doing. Running has become such a release for me. I love getting out there in the morning, nothing but me, my iPod and a pair of shoes. I love it.

And I can't wait until the next race.