My First 5K

Back in May I began the couch to 5K program.  I had heard that by the end of the program you would actually like running.  I was very, very skeptical.  But I did it because it's something I've been curious about and wanting to do.  I plugged along through the program taking my time as I had no real set goal other than to finish at some point.  So, if I found that a week was particularly difficult for me, I would repeat it the next week until I felt ready to move on.  I ended up finishing the program and running 5k towards the middle of July.  And then I didn't know what to do.  I didn't have much motivation to keep it up and with the end of the summer getting busy, it was really easy to make an excuse not to run. So, I didn't.  It had been about a month since I had ran when one of my friends from the ward mentioned that there was a "Pumpkin Run" on a farm on the south end of town that her family enjoyed doing.  The run was five and half weeks out.  There was also a short run for the kids which I thought would be great for the boys.  I stewed over it for a couple of days before talking to Reid and finally committing to the run. So, I began again at about the middle of the program hoping to be ready for the Pumpkin Run.  Along the way, I definitely had some regrets.  Especially when kids would get sick and not sleep, or cut teeth and not sleep, making it difficult for me to get in my training.  And then of course, I would try to do my training during Bree's nap time, which is also the only time I can mow the lawn.  And then after mowing the lawn, I'm normally stuffed up from allergies for a week afterwards.  So, anyway, the point is that training was tough.  But I had already paid the entry fee so I was committed.

The first time I ran a 5K was July 17th.  The first 5 minutes of this was walking for warm up, so this was a 36 minute 5K.

My last 5K on the treadmill before the run.  This was the Monday before the race.  I wanted to give myself time to recover from this run before the race.  The first 2:30 of this was walking, so this was a 32:36 5K.

  The Pumpkin Run was held on Saturday October 4th at Venetucci Farm on the south side of Colorado Springs.  We arrived with a good amount of time to find most of the people from our ward who signed up and get me in place for the start of the run.  At that point, Reid took the kids over to McDonald's to play (with some of the other kids from the ward) while I ran.  My race began at 9:45am and I anticipated that I would take 35 to 40 minutes.  My goal was to finish around 35 minutes.  During my training, I had done a few runs at the elementary school track on Saturdays when I could, but that was a totally flat and smooth run.  This run was around and through a farm.  They listed it as "relatively flat".  I guess relative is, well, relative in Colorado.  Clearly I have a different definition.  My longest outside run up to this point had been two miles, but I had done 5K several times on the treadmill and was able to maintain a pace that should have had me finish in 32 minutes.  But that was without the hills.

This 5K course started with a decent downhill and then was relatively flat for most of the middle section.  But if you go down, you must always go back up and there were two fairly brutal hills in the third mile of the race.  I did well at the beginning and was able to jog/run the whole way up until mile 2.  At that point the muscles in my shoulders and neck were burning and I couldn't figure out why.  In training I had always put my iPhone down on the treadmill but for the run I was carrying it.  I don't know if that was causing me to change my arm swing or tense up my shoulders or if it was something else entirely, but I knew I couldn't keep going.  Luckily there was a water station not too far after the mile 2 marker and so I stopped to walk through the station and give myself a bit of a rest.  After turning the corner after the water station, I came face to face with one of those brutal hills.  So, I kept walking.  In total, I probably walked for 1-2 minutes at most.  Once I hit the top of the hill I renewed my pace.  The last hill was just minutes away from the finish line and it was at that point that I passed someone from the ward, and I have to admit that I was quite proud of that.  This is a lady who is somewhat "athletic" (she's done a triathlon in the past and plays basketball with the guys in the ward at times) and is significantly taller than me.  She also started the race more in the middle to front of the pack, while I went straight to the back (I stood at the starting line with a lady who had a 4 week old baby in a front carrier!).  Anyway, passing her was a highlight of the race for me.  (Don't worry, I'm not telling her and she doesn't read this blog!)

I finished the race in 33 minutes and 24 seconds, which is pretty gosh darn awesome in my opinion.  I was 99th overall in the race (out of several hundred people) and 11th in my age group.  It was hard....one of the hardest things I have done in a long time.  I was disappointed that I had to walk a bit, but I was also really happy with my time.   

The race results.  See number 99?  That's me.  And yes that says that a 7 year old and a 9 year old beat me.  That isn't even the worst of it.  See the 63 year-old that beat me by two minutes?  There was also a 70 year-old man about a minute behind me.  Nope, I'm definitely not fast!

After my run, there was watermelon and bagels available for the runners as well as a few information booths advertising other things on the farm.  We hung around and visited with friends until the kids' race started at 11am.  Both boys ran the 400M race and did great!  At the end they both received a blue ribbon which entitled them to pick a pumpkin out of the field.  After getting those pumpkins we headed back to the car, very much worn out for the day.  

The boys lining up for their run.  Reid ran with Finn to help him out, because Kai runs faster than him and he gets upset if he is left without anyone with him.

Bree drinking some Gatorade while waiting with me for the boys.

Kai came around the corner before I was ready to grab a picture.  So, I only have one of Reid and Finn running together.  I was proud of Finn for being able to run the whole way.  He had a pretty bad sinus infection at this point and wasn't feeling 100%, but he did it.  

It was a good experience.  I'm glad I did it.  I can't believe I'm saying this, but I want to do it again.  Somebody pinch me, please!