1st 5K Run For Tina Memorial Scholarship Run

The day finally came the day of my 1st 5K!!! January 29th, 2011 was the day that I have been anxiously awaiting for and training for since Graduating from the Couch To 5K program!

Woke up bright and early a little after 5 a.m., even before my alarm went off which was set for 5:30 a.m., feeling pretty good and rested. Of course first things first....Coffee! Made my usual breakfast which was oatmeal without the usual frozen blueberries, my friends mom psyched me out the day before by mentioning the bathroom part, I have heard stories about runners having to go #2 with no bathrooms around! Also I had to be careful about not drinking too much coffee for a couple reasons 1. dehydrates you, 2. it also causes one to have to go to the bathroom. Running is mental, so you don't want to have a full bladder in the middle of your run it is just one more excuse to stop! Back to breakfast-could only eat half of my oatmeal due to being too excited!

Took a shower, got dressed, threw the hair in a pony, grabbed my hat, my ipod, my Garmin, 4 bananas, almonds, 4 meal replacement drinks (the mom in me brought enough for everybody) and of course chap stick! Hopped in the car and headed down the road to meet my friend at the Safeway parking lot. Picked up the boys at the grandparenets and off we were! There were 4 of us running the race my friend Jamie of over 20 years, her son Andrew, his friend Christian and myself.

We were making good time this made us very happy since we knew that around 650 people had pre-registered for this event. Getting up there in plenty of time was really important Christian still needed to register.  And of course we got lost trying to find the park! We had no GPS good thing Jamie and I were born before GPS units, because she was smart enough to ask directions at the gas station.

Woo Hoo, we made it to our destination!! First stop is the bathroom, of course! Grabbed our bibs, Yay my first bib, and our t-shirts, Yay my first race t-shirt! I realize that I am going to have to find storage for my bibs, medals, ribbons, shirts, and maybe even a trophy someday! After getting all our gear we hopped in the car to get warm it was raining and it was cold! In reality it was perfect weather for me to run in since I am a new runner, just starting in October, so this is the only weather I am used to. Even on the few sunny days I have ran it still has only been a high of 50. 20 minutes in the car and it is time to get out and warm our bodies up with some sprinting. Yep we sprinted and yes you got it, to the bathroom! It was sprinting to me not to the others who are experienced and faster.

We gather at the staring line and the energy is electric! Ready or not it is time to run! I start my Garmin watch so I can see my pace, it is crucial that I don't start out too fast which is really easy to do with the buzz of the other runners. Runners are passing me at an alarming rate, which is not surprising I am not a fast runner (yet), I just don't want to be in their way. I keep to the side as much as I can to make it easier for the faster ones to get by me, when lo and behold I pass someone, he may have stopped running to answer his cell phone, but who cares I have one more runner behind me! Keeping a steady pace round the corner and here is the small hill they said was on the course, wasn't small to me and it was 1/4 long, it was also a narrow trail! Proud of myself made it up running half way or more, then got stuck behind a gal who decided to walk, people are passing me on the left, the middle is getting slippery from being wet and trampled on, looked like a good time to walk and catch my breath. I haven't trained on any type of hill yet, if I had to walk for a few minutes it is O.K. just gives me a new goal to work on.

Like Jamie said what goes up must come down and at the bottom of the hill was a lake that we got to run around. This had a wider path easier for people to get around me and also for me to get around others, yes it is true I am now starting to pass a few people. Keeping my pace steady is what was saving me! By now the course is a little over half over! Yippee! Along the course they have people directing us on where to go, even though it was marked clearly, these volunteers helped in keeping us motivated by cheering us on! At the end of the race the volunteers were kids this was fun, not only was I coming to the end, these kids were cute and as I ran by we were high fiving!

 Around the corner around the barn and voila THE FINISH LINE! So cool to see the time clock with the time in the low 30 minute range still and all the racers who already finished, and everyones family there to show support! Off to the left I see my best friend Jamie cheering me on, she had been there for over 10 minutes already, she finish at 20 minutes or so. I see the time clock raise my arms in the air, with both hands making the peace sign, and cross the finish line at 00.33.40! Beat my normal time by around -5 minutes or so!!

My husband, my inlaws, my daughter and my son were all there to congratulate me and I felt loved and proud! What a great support system I have, considering after I got runners knee (in both knees) it was never really said, but I could tell that it was hard for them to understand why I went back out to run as soon as I could. My son told me "Words can not say, It is unbelievable how much I love you!"