Finally, my first 5k report

I can't believe it's been almost two weeks since I ran my very first 5k and I haven't even told you all about it! There are a few reasons though, one is my computer still had some problems and another is I'm so tired all the time and don't know if it's due to the running or something else.

Anyway, my first 5k was on Labor Day. I was excited and a bit nervous. I met my daughters at the event. My youngest daughter (D2, the personal trainer) brought 6 of her boot campers and her 11 year old daughter and her friend (they both ran it too). My oldest daughter (D1) brought her sister-in-law (W). We had a nice sized group! I introduced them to several of the women in my running group.

I met up with a friend (F) I met in the training sessions and met her husband and son. Her son participates in Ironman Triathlons. It's really great that he supports her and gives her training tips. She and I had planned to run the 5k together. I teased her telling her when we got close to the finish line I was going to kick it and leave her in the dust. We all got a good laugh at that - she's almost 6 feet tall and I'm five feet! But, we're both slow and can pace each other.

The girls of course ran ahead of me and I ran with F. She and I kept each other paced and motivated. The race was small (about 120 women and kids) and the course was an out and back, so I got to see many of the people from the training group and my daughters and granddaughter as they were on their way back. It was pretty awesome to give the girls high fives as we passed each other! And the words of encouragement from them and the other women made it fun, inspiring and motivating.

Then, when F and I had less than a mile to go I started feeling nauseous and very tired.  F kept talking to me and tried to keep my mind off of how I was feeling. Twice I said I just couldn't keep going and tried to stop but both times she grabbed my arm and pulled me along. I told her she didn't have to worry (as if she ever was) because there was no way I would be able to 'kick it' at the end. At that point I started thinking to myself 'why am I doing this'!

Finally, as we came around the last curve, we could see the people lined up along the trail by the finish line and could hear them yelling for us to run faster. I saw my son-in-law standing with his camera taking pictures and I remember giving him two thumbs up but feeling very tired. F and I just kept our normal pace until one of the guys I knew yelled 'hurry, go faster or the little girl behind you is going to beat you'. I looked back and saw this little eight year old girl and her mom not far behind us.

I don't know how I managed to do it, but I just started sprinting! I yelled and motioned at F to 'hurry, go faster'. I could hear my family and friends yelling 'go, go, go'! Just as I was about to cross the finish line that little girl passed me on my right, her mom was right next to me and F was suddenly on my left. That little girl beat me by one second! Her mom and I crossed at the same time and F was just one second behind me. It was very exciting! Suddenly, I was feeling pumped and couldn't wait to do it again!

It's crazy the adrenaline rush I got after putting my body through the hardest workout it has ever done and wondering why I was doing it. About a week before the race I ran 3 miles in 40 minutes. I ran the 5k in 39:59 - 1/10th of a mile longer and one second faster. The improvement I have made in the past month is amazing!

I'm still helping my sister with the running program that I did. We run together twice a week. I'm also trying to run with my oldest daughter, but her business (she's a photographer) and her husband's long hours make it difficult for her. We've had to bring her three daughters on their bikes. It's not difficult with the two oldest girls because they can ride rings around u, but the 5 yo is still using training wheels and didn't like having to ride so far and being left behind by her sisters.

Tomorrow D1, D2, W and I are running the Corporate Cup 10k. D2 will leave us in the dust of course. D1, W and I have a plan to run it using the Jeff Galloway run/walk program.  At first the plan was to run 1 mile and walk 1 mile. But after thinking about it, that would take us way too long to complete the race if we walked every other mile. So we've decided to change it to run 10 min/walk 1 min or maybe 5/1. I have it all programmed in Little Red so we can make the decision when we get there. I just hope it doesn't rain (it's been raining all day today).

I've been having some leg pain the past several weeks and it has gotten a little worse. The pain actually starts right in the middle of my left buttock and goes down to the middle of the back of the thigh. I also get pain on the outside of my right knee. I'm trying to be sure to stretch well, even used my Yoga for Athletes video. I've taken Ibuprofen which helped but cause very bad heartburn. Today I started using Aleve, just once so far, but it hasn't helped yet. I hope it doesn't hurt tomorrow and that I don't make it worse. If anyone has any tips on how to treat this pain, please let me know.

I've rambled enough for one post and need to get my running gear together for tomorrow. I'll be sure to report on the 10k much sooner than I did for the 5k.