Race Day!

This morning was the Run2Believe 5k! My first ever 5k that I ran! We got there at about 830am and met with the Start2Finish Group for a group picture. WAY more people showed up to this than ever at our group runs!

Start2Finish Group Photo

The race started at 9am. It was a rough start. It started on the High School track, then went to a gravel road, then onto the pavement. At first there were several things that slowed us down: a narrow gate, some puddles, etc. But once we got on the pavement, we got a good pace going. The first 2k were probably the worst. I remember feeling like I couldn't do it when someone said we were 0.8 miles in. That's a little over 1k, I think. I didn't even see a 1k sign, so I figured that they weren't going to have markers. But then we passed a 2k marker, and I figured I just missed the first one. There was a water station a bit after 2k and we got water. It was super cold and I spilled a lot down my shirt, but it was getting hot, so it felt good! There were a few hills between 2-3k, but they weren't too bad. When we passed 3k, I was thinking "Yes! We are over half done!" There were these two women (at least one was from our program) and they were so annoying. They kept saying "Okay, we'll run from here to the water station" or "We'll run from here until we get to that yellow sign." I kept thinking "I'm going to run from the starting line to the finish line!" I don't think they get the point of distance running... They would run and pass me and start walking again and it was driving me crazy! At one point between 3-4k, they were about to pass me, so I started running super fast! I just could not let them pass me again! That finally took me up to where they couldn't pass again.... When we passed 4k I was so excited that I only had 1k left to go! We ended back on the track and it felt so good to be close to the finish line. The last 200 meters or so Kim, Stephanie, and I gave it our all for the finish! I finished the whole thing without walking any! My goal was to finish sub-45:00. I didn't see a clock when we finished, but I was guessing my time was about 47 minutes or so... When they posted the results, I was surprised to see that my time was 44:54! Barely made the sub-45:00! If I hadn't given it my all those last meters or been annoyed by the "here to there" girls, I don't think I would've made it!

I'm glad it's over! I'm glad I made my goal! And I can't wait for the next one! Our next race will be a 2-miler on April 22.

Before the race: Me, Kim, Steph

After the race: Steph, Me, Kim

Afterward, they had a pancake feed. Kim went home, but Stephanie, her boyfriend, and I went and had pancakes!

 After pancakes, I met my SIL, Jennifer, at Target to get Elliott. They were going to go see The Lorax, so we decided to go with them. We read that book the other day! It was Elliott's first trip to the movie theater! She did a great job! I had to take a couple picture to remember the milestone!