Inspired

Greetings, again. I hope everyone reading this is doing well. I have been doing fantastic! I’ve been super busy with school, work, MMA and my most recent accomplishment, completing my first 5k!

The days and hours leading up to race day were filled with much anxiety and excitement. As, I assume, most training schedules go, you do not run the full distance until the actual day of the race. This alone scared me to death! I had been training for six weeks to build my body and endurance up to be able to run just over 3 miles. Training constantly made me very proud of myself, but I still did not know if I was going to be able to run the full distance come March 13th.

Race day started bright and early on Saturday. My nerves going crazy, I jumped out of bed, put on my fancy race attire, ate a good pre-race breakfast and was out the door. My friend, Amanda, was along for support…I definitely needed the numerous “calm down” talks she gave me on the way!…and I, of course, needed my own, personal paparazzi!

After the bagpipes (yes, they were pretty much awesome) and the gunshot, we were off. Setting my pace came pretty naturally, and I was able to keep it the whole time. The halfway mark was noted by an aid station with water…much needed! During the last half, my body was finally getting the hang of it….autopilot and listening to some good tunes until the finish. The race was held at LP Field, where the Titans play, and the finish line was on the 50 yard line….so cool! As I was rounding in the stadium, and about to come out onto the field, I was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion. I can now see why people at the end of races are crying! That feeling of accomplishment cannot be fully described by words. Just remembering at week 1 of training, I could barely run 2 minutes without getting tired…and I just ran 3.1 miles! Not to mention, I was very proud of my time: 34:51!!

After having so much fun with this race, I have decided to sign up for another 5k in April. Now that I know I can run that distance, I'm going to be working on my time.

Hope this true story was as inspirational for you after reading it as it was for me after writing it...

Cheers!

PS - here are some pics for your viewing pleasure...