mindaTHINK: Something other than Scrapbooking and Vomit

Woo Hoo!

So today I ran the first 5k I've run in over 10 years! It was a fun, fabulous experience, the kind that makes it fun to talk about, instead of just a lame little 5k run!

We had our first blizzard of the season. You know the type: whipping winds, snowy/sleet or sleety/snow falling fast, couldn't even see Lake Harriet while standing beside it! We got a decent parking space, picked up our t-shirts and headed for the heated vendor tent. Ah, this girl who hates crowds never appreciated them more!

6,000 crazy Minnesotans, dressed in everything from a reindeer costume to a snowsuit, dogs in tow, all laughing and talking excitedly and LOVING that the snowstorm was making this all so much more interesting!

It was fun wandering around and checking out the costumes, overhearing conversations, and trying to decide if we were going to need to shed layers once we got going. It was such a crowd it took us 5:50 to get TO the start line after the race began! We used our own watches to keep time and Marcy and I ran pretty well, considering the first half mile was pins and needles sleet pelting us in the face, and the fact that we had to walk for a good 2 to 3 tenths of a mile because so many people were backed up.

The favorite thing for me was passing people. I passed hundreds of people on the race, and that really wasn't what I was expecting, so it felt good to know that I wasn't coming in last! Marcy and I ran together for the first half of the race and then I had to take a walk break and we said our good lucks and parted ways. I began running again shortly thereafter, because even though I'd stripped off gloves, hat and a coat and was sweaty, if you go too slow you start to get cold again! The road was slick but I was very careful and when I was 3/4 of the way around I checked my watch and realized if I picked up the pace a bit I actually could meet my goal of 36 minutes, even with the rough start and bad roads. I kicked it into high gear and came across the finish line just one minute behind Marcy and very close to my goal (just a few seconds over)

I felt great and was pleased as punch, immediately thinking, "I want to run another 5k here at Harriet in better weather conditions!" So Tami was right, I am hooked!

I have more pictures that aren't downloaded yet, but here are a couple until I can get the rest out of the camera.

Comments

Wow! I am in awe (that was the word i was looking for the other day) what a great accomplishment. I would have gotten up, looked out the window and gone right back to bed. No who are we kidding I would have never thought about doing such a crazy thing in the first place...Good For you (and Marcy)
Yipee!!

Susan

Posted by: susan | December 02, 2007 at 10:28 PM