5k

I should have written this a while ago, but I needed the pictures as proof. There are some of you who may not have believed without some evidence. Heck, I would be one of the non-believers.

See, remember back when I told you I was running? That was going well....until....my allergies came back with a vengeance. (Evil, I tell you.) Well, having allergies feels the same as being sick in many ways. I can't breathe, I feel tired, and I don't want to run. At all. So I didn't for a few weeks.

Eventually, I stopped feeling sorry for myself and called my Pediatrician, like I mentioned. And behold, I could breathe again. So that meant I should start running too. Well, I got up early one morning to run a mile and it was dark outside. When did that happen? I didn't want to run in the dark, so I went back to bed. (Actually, it doesn't take much persuasion for me to crawl back in bed.)

So much for my dedicated running. Naturally when people mentioned a 5k, I knew I wasn't ready, because I hadn't been running. But Beth put on a 5k to support her dance group, and I visit teach her, and I love her, and I knew I couldn't avoid the 5k thing forever, so I decided to do it. Well, more accurately, Tyler asked me all week if I was really going to 'run' and I finally signed up the day before. But sign up, I did.

The morning of the race came, and it was cold. Coh-OLD. I got there a little early and I stood there and froze. My teeth were chattering and I couldn't feel my toes. (I couldn't feel my toes until I hit the second mile marker. Then they slowly got feeling back. Seems you can run without toes after all.)

I knew a few people. That was nice. I didn't really want to run with anyone per se, because I didn't want to slow anyone down and I was pretty sure I would not be a good conversationalist, what with all the wheezing going on. But Deanne showed up and asked if I would run with Olivia. I was hoping that since Olivia just came from three hours of volleyball practice that she might be going my pace. Charity snapped a photo for us. I reluctantly use this as evidence. Just remember it was cold. (I'm not sure if that makes up for how scary I look?)

Finally it was time to start. Good thing too. Most of my body was numb. Olivia had found a friend in the crowd and they were chatting as the race started. Actually, this cute girl didn't stop talking the entire time. And it was a good thing she was talking to Olivia, because as I suspected, I wouldn't have been able to answer her. The two of them eventually decided to walk and I figured that Olivia was in good hands and I continued on. (Truthfully, I thought that if I stopped, I wouldn't be able to start again.)

And so I ran. Or jogged slowly. But I kept my pace and I passed a few people. I did stop three times, but each for less than ten seconds. I would think that I couldn't go any longer, but the minute I stopped and walked a few feet, it seemed easier just to start up the dull jog again. And those feet finally brought me to the finish line. I know I look lonely here, but I promise there were some people behind me...somewhere.

I was so ecstatic to be done that I didn't look very closely at my time. It was something like 34: 38. I made up the seconds. I know it was 34 minutes, but I didn't look much closer. So I didn't quite make the 10-minute mile, but I also hadn't been running since the end of August. And before that, it wasn't like I was training. So I am proud of myself.

And I was sore for days afterward. Ouch. I am tempted to do another 5k to see if I could beat my time, but I should probably start the weekly running before I do that. Beth plans to make this an annual event, so even if I don't get my act together, I can probably torture myself for another half hour next year.

There you have it. The 5k that didn't quite kill me.