Race day

Two months of training resulted in 32 minutes to reach the finish line.

Yesterday, I ran my first ever 5k race. Unfortunately, race results have yet to be posted, so I'm not exactly sure of my finishing time. There were no timing chips so timing was done manually. Bounding over the finish line, the clock was ticking very close to 32 minutes. And that is a pretty good finishing time in my books. I plan on framing my bib number as I'm extremely proud of what it represents.

Running in a race has a totally different feel than running with a friend or alone. There is definitely an energy of competition. And it is hard not to feed into or succumb to it. While most runners were likely running just to run to have fun or achieve their personal best, some were quite serious. Elite runners in the 10k race quickly blew by me while I was struggling to get to the halfway point.

So along with my friend and running coach, C, and her sister, we ran. The last kilometer was hard. I really wanted to walk, but I kept on telling myself that I had less than a kilometer to go. It was exhilarating to see people cheering along the sidelines. Approaching the finish line, I picked up the pace and surged over the finish line. I'm not too sure where the energy came from, but I think it was from the will to hurry up and finish the race.

I never thought in a million years I could run a 5k race, let alone run. But I did. Race Weekend is coming up in about six weeks and I'm looking forward to that. There is also another run in Barrhaven in mid-June. So many runs. So many possibilities.