My clock went off at 6 a.m. and I seriously thought to myself...what the...am I doing? I'll tell you what I was doing. I was getting up and getting ready and not quitting before I got started on my first 5K. It would have been ssssssssooooooooooooo easy to stay in bed this morning and stretch across my king size and fall back asleep in the quiet morning...me and the dog...but instead I went with the peer pressure knowing they'd give me such crap if I bailed. I drove to the church and parked my car and wondered again why in the world any rational person would be up doing this. I saw people, old and young, getting out of their cars and then I felt like I couldn't bail out. I had to go. Police were stopping traffic on Goodlette if you needed to cross over to the equestrian center that this 5K was a fundraiser for. If you were one of the first hundred you received a t-shirt for your pain and misery. ha
We started and a friend of mine from school is in about the same shape I'm in so I thought for sure I'd be able to keep up with her but I was wrong. I ran as long as I could until it felt as though my lungs might collapse and then I told her to go ahead and I walked until I caught my breath. Catching your breath is a great feeling but it goes away quickly as soon as you start running again. As I'm going along I'm praying, "Please Lord don't let me be the last one in." Vain? Selfish? Ignorant? Whatever! This encouraging lady was stationed near the one mile marker telling me it was a beautiful morning and that I was doing great. At this point I'm traveling alone and a speedwalker passed me. Not sure exactly what that is saying but I just kept on going. I mean, seriously...she was going really fast. Really fast!
When I hit the halfway mark some nice guy handed me a cup of water...I thought I was in love. When I hit almost the two mile mark I got a terrible charlie horse in my left calf and thought I was going to have to drag that leg across the finish line. I looked down the side streets wondering if there was a shortcut I could take back. Bad? Perhaps. Good idea? Perhaps? Necessary? No. I just kept right on going. It took a good half mile to get that pain to go away and the pain under my rib cage had already come and gone. Thirst was a distant thought and I was grateful for the shade.
The kind police officer around the 2 mile mark was sweet. The guy that came riding on his bike from the opposite direction to check on our progress was nice and told me I was doing a good job. The encouragement caused me to pick up my pace. My arms and legs felt like lead but I kept moving. Pretty soon I heard someone say, "Half mile to go." I thought, "I can do this." Then I saw a guy friend from my school and one of our students running back to get me. They encouraged me and told me I was doing great for my first time and I started running again. As I neared the finish line with them I heard someone yell, "Come on Hanson." I picked up the pace and crossed the line in just under 48 minutes. A terrible time but it was all mine. My prayers were answered I was far from the last one in but I was disappointed that I didn't do better. What was I thinking? I haven't run in forever and even when I did it was more of a walk/run. So, now at least I had a time. My friend that runs these all the time told me how he got started and that time is mine and mine alone and I am only competing against myself. Which leads into them all trying to get me to sign up for the one coming up in May. Lord, will I fall for this again? If I do can I beat my just under 48 time? Oh, so now I have a little motivation even though my legs hurt so bad right now I don't even want to get off of my couch. UUgghh! What would I give to have a garden tub to soak in or a hot tub? Anything! Everything! I'd give it all!
But I have neither so the couch will have to do.
