I made it!

This past Saturday I ran my first 5k ever. Yes ran. Ok I consider it jogging but I did not walk at all. I don't have an official time yet but I completed it in approx 45-47 mins. Which considering my weight and it being my first is awesome!

I am sure I looked quite silly while running but I don't care. It started uphill and ended flat. I ran up that hill jamming to Head Strong by Trapt and singing (I hope to myself) "back off, I'll take you on. I'm headstrong to take on anyone." And I made it up that hill and kept going. I knew I would be fine and I was.

I did not do this race alone. I ran with 2 friends from high school. Camille is a little faster than me and Jen but we pushed through and she was there at the end cheering for us. Me and Jen ran off and on together the whole time and pushed each other to keep going.

I spent a good part of the run with my eyes closed. I'm not sure why but it helped. I jammed to all my good fast music to keep me going. I'm sure I was singing most of the time, I hope not very loud though LOL. I know there were a few times I was doing some mini boxing moves while running too. Crazy what pushes you to keep going but it worked. My body did great. Even though I am not a runner and did not really train for it. My body was ready. I had very little pains except for a few mins of side pain at the half way mark and my calves started burning up the hill. But otherwise I had no problems at all.

We ran along the Jordan Canal the last leg and it was just beautiful and relaxing.  Towards the end we came around the corner and could see the finish line. I have never ran so fast in my life. I put my mp3 player on SandStorm by Darude and kicked it into over drive. Somehow.. .even after running 3 miles my body flew. I was leaping the center divide in the road as I crossed the street and cruised to the finish line. It was an amazing feeling.

I was number 251 but I'm not sure out of how many. But I finished my goals. I did not come in last. I finished it. I ran it all. And I did it in less than an hour!

Afterwards they had a parade that I sat with Camille and her family and watched. I got very emotional after my heart rate had come down and I had a moment to realize what I had just done. I had just run a 5k. Myself. At 225 ish lbs. I ran 3.1 miles. That was one of the best feelings ever.   (Sorry Camille for getting all sappy!) But it just proves that a) you can do absolutely anything you set your mind to) and b) your body knows what it is meant to do and given the chance will do it for you, even if you've abused it with food and weight most of it's life. It's still there for you when you are ready.

This coming Saturday, July 3, I'm running another ;)