true story: st louis post 3

Thursday, 11-28 was Thanksgiving Day -- and that morning was THE morning of my very first Turkey Trot 5k! In January, I set a goal for my year -- I would run a 5K. And though, over the course of training and running I discovered that I don't really enjoy running very much, I was determined to still fulfill my goal. I am proud to say that I did just that!!!!

My goal was to not walk at all, to run the whole thing; my training pace was about a 12:30 per mile, and I was fine with that; I told Chris, depending on how I felt, I might sprint at the end. My sweet hubby agreed to run the race with me to be my support system, and I must say -- I was really worried. I witnessed him when Aspen ran a few years ago, and he was a tough cookie on her. But, honestly, he was absolutely amazing and was exactly what I needed. He was supportive and positive and informative and just the best partner I could have asked for. I am grateful he ran with me...because I did end up getting a side stitch and that could have blown the whole deal...but he took my mind off it and I kept plugging through.

It was 22 degrees the morning of the run. Yes, I had put in my request for cold weather because of my intolerance to heat but whew! This was a bit extreme!! I was then a bit concerned about the cold triggering my ashtma, but no problems there either. It was slightly windy, but more than anything, the course had a few hills that were quite rough. I didn't train with any hills, and they wiped me out.

But, I did kind of enjoy the "race" aspect of it, and I didn't think that I would. It was a neat experience passing people, juking and jiving through the crowd to get a better place. I hadn't experience that before. Chris was right there with me, offering suggestions and advice. Overall, I think I did much better than I had expected, and ended up with an 11:25 pace average. That is over a minute faster than what I trained at, and I could certainly feel it at the end!! I am proud to say, I did sprint at the end. I didn't feel like I had anything left, but I dug deeper and when Chris said, "Time to sprint!" I found that I was able to. Crazy crazy.

I am glad that I did it. I am proud of myself. I proved that if you put your mind to it, you can really do anything. One reason I decided to set this goal for myself is that I wanted to show Aspen that you may not like something, you may not be good at something, but if you dedicate yourself and stretch yourself, you can do it. That if you make a goal for yourself, you should see it through. And because of that reason, it was so wonderful that morning, before the race, when Aspen handed me a note that she had written me. She expressed how proud she was of me, and that made it all worth it!

It was a fun experience, and I am so glad that my mom's husband Randy ran it with us!! He had a great run too...and the funniest thing of all is that a weiner dog ran in front of me the entire race, and ended up beating me! A weiner dog and its stubby little legs! How rude!!!! :) He was cute though, he was wearing a Sponge Bob Square Pants sweatshirt!!

So, there you go! Goal fulfilled! Will I run another race? Most likely not. Will I ever run again? Possibly, for a workout now and then. There are just other types of workout that I enjoy so much more and that my body is better at. But a run now and then wouldn't be too bad :) Special thanks go out to Aspen for taking fantastic action shots of my experience!!! She is becoming very talented!