1st 5k!

This morning I ran my first 5k. I got there about an hour early, which really wasn't necessary - half an hour or even fifteen minutes would have been fine (but now I know that). But I got to see the marathon start, and I hung out with some Kaia girls (they were wearing Kaia t-shirts, so I just went up and said hi!). It was very cold this morning, so hanging out for an hour wasn't very fun. Of course, once we started running I warmed up pretty quickly.

I ran the entire first mile in about ten and a half minutes, which was too fast. It's a common mistake, and no matter how many times someone tells you that you need to go slowly, you don't realize how slowly until you actually race. After the first mile, some of the Kaia girls who were not running were handing out water, so it was good to see them and have someone cheering for me. :-) The second mile was tough - I took several walk breaks, but I still ran about half of it. The crowd had thinned out considerably by the time we reached the turnaround point, which helped a little bit. Then, when I hit the third mile, I ran most of it - I figured it was the last mile, and I did some sprinting once I got near the finish line. My goal was to complete the 5k in under 35 minutes, and I just did that (according to my watch, at least) by finishing in 34:50. So, not only did I finish, but I finished under my goal time and I ran about two-thirds of the way. Sean was near the finish line, so again, it felt great to have someone rooting for me! Every person who finished got a medal, so I have that, and the race t-shirt and bib, and I'm going to buy a paper tomorrow because it will have all of the results and I want to save it.

Now that I've done it, I know that I can do it again. I'm signed for one in July in Santa Cruz, then I'm doing a 10k in PA (which I will probably walk a large portion of). After we move to Boulder, I'm doing another 10k in mid-August, then I start school, so I won't have much time to train. Next summer, I'd like to complete a half-marathon.

Other than some pain in my knee, I feel fantastic. I did it! :-)